There were four sudden deaths in Richmond between Saturday and Monday, Richmond Mounties reported Tuesday.
The numbers are a fraction of what is being reported by Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver, where police have responded to dozens of deaths during the heat wave. The BC Coroners Service is also reporting a “significant” spike in reported deaths.
But Richmond RCMP said in a statement that the contributing causes and manner of death in each of the four Richmond cases are still being determined by the BC Coroners Service, which will also determine whether any of the deaths were heat-related.
The number of deaths in Richmond – which took place over a 48 hour period from Saturday morning to Monday morning – doesn’t appear to be a “variation from the normal,” Mounties said. Also during this 48 hour period, officers responded to “a few check well-being requests,” but said none appear to have been related specifically to the hot weather.
However, Richmond Mounties are calling on residents to take proper precautions in the hot weather, check on neighbours and the elderly, as well as others who may struggle in extremely hot weather.
Spike in sudden deaths across B.C.
Meanwhile, in a tweet on Tuesday, Burnaby RCMP said they had responded to 15 reports of sudden deaths on Monday, and 19 more by noon on Tuesday.
Burnaby Mounties said in a statement that while the deaths are still under investigation, heat is believed to have been a contributing factor in the majority of them. Many of the deceased were also seniors.
Surrey RCMP recorded 38 sudden deaths over less than 36 hours, far higher than the two to five reported on an average day.
Vancouver police (VPD) are pleading with people to only call 911 during emergencies as it redeploys dozens of officers.
In a statement, VPD said heat-related deaths have depleted front line resources and severely delayed response times throughout that city. As of Tuesday afternoon, officers had responded to more than 65 sudden deaths since the heat wave began on Friday.
The “vast majority” of the deaths are linked to heat, said VPD.
Across the province, the BC Coroners Service has seen a “significant increase in deaths reported where it is suspected that extreme heat has been a contributory” since the start of the heat wave, according to Lisa Lapointe, B.C.'s chief coroner.
Normally, the BC Coroners Service would receive about 130 reports of death over a four day period in B.C., said Lapointe. However, from Friday through to 3 p.m. on Monday, at least 233 deaths were reported, and that number is expected to climb.
The coroners service is currently working to determine causes and manner of death, and whether excessive heat played a role.
Premier John Horgan was asked during a press conference on Tuesday if the province did enough to get the word out about the risks of the heat wave.
“The public was acutely aware that we had a heat problem, and we were doing our best to break through all of the other noise to encourage people to take steps to protect themselves,” Horgan said. “But it was apparent to anyone who walked outdoors that we were in an unprecedented heat wave and again, there's a level of personal responsibility.”
Meanwhile, BC Emergency Health Services said paramedics responded to187 calls for heat exhaustion and more than 52 calls for heatstroke between Friday and early Monday morning.
- With files from Cornelia Naylor, Burnaby Now; Stefan Labbé, Glacier Media
