Western Canada sweats in renewed heat wave, rivergoers told to avoid cheap floaties

As Western Canadians sweat under a renewed heat wave, Calgary emergency crews say they continue to bail out rivergoers who are trying to beat the heat by navigating swift currents on dime-store pink flamingo floaties.

"We are regularly responding to emergencies on the river, and the most common reason we're called is people are purchasing plastic floaties, rafts, flamingos that are not meant for swift water," Carol Henke with the Calgary Fire Department said Wednesday.

"Those are meant for pool scenario. Those crafts can rip and puncture very easily."

Henke said most of the 50 calls the department has responded to so far this month have been to rescue people stranded on the Bow River because they didn't have the appropriate gear to float.

Henke said crews will increase their presence along the river to educate people on the types of tubes and rafts that float safely on the water.

The number of people expecting to seek relief on rivers, lakes and pools in the West is expected to rise in the coming days, as temperatures are forecast to spike and linger in the 30 C range.

Heat warnings remained in place Wednesday for most of Alberta, western and northern Saskatchewan and parts of the Northwest Territories and British Columbia.

Meteorologist Terri Lang said temperatures over the next six days were expected to be hottest in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where some communities could reach daytime highs of 35 C and overnight lows between 12 C and 20 C.

"For this heat event, it's not so much the intensity as opposed to the duration people should be aware of," said Lang with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"We're not getting those 40 C egg-fryers. It's more about (the temperature spike) … for a while."

Lang added the weather can be tough for people who don't have air conditioning, including the elderly, those with health conditions, first responders and the homeless.

"There's a lot more that go into heat warnings than just, 'Let's get out to the lake and get on the boat,"' Lang said.

Temperatures may start to cool down by the middle of next week, she said.

"It's not looking like anything (changes) any time soon."