As a summer heat wave bakes the region this week, Deputy Fire Chief Alan Klapat walks the halls of housing authority high-rises in Wilkes-Barre.
“We want to make sure everybody’s comfortable and there aren’t any issues with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system,” he said. “There's a lot of people in these buildings with mobility issues, respiratory issues. We just want to make sure everybody's OK with the high heat.”
Klapat said the department does check-ins whenever the heat index approaches a dangerous level like this week when the area was under a heat advisory from Tuesday at noon until Thursday at 8 p.m. And the heat isn’t letting up.
The National Weather Service extended the advisory until Friday evening, and meteorologist Mark Pellerito says it could last even longer.
“The specific pattern we’re in right now is very stuck,” he said. “We have a heat dome just sitting over the area with nothing to break it.”
On Tuesday, Klapat and an engine crew walked through several floors of Valley View Terrace in Wilkes-Barre. They stopped to check on anyone in the hallways, which were not air conditioned.
Elaine Pearson, a resident of the high-rise, came across the firefighters in the lobby.
“I have three fans, and they’re all facing the window,” said Pearson, who does not have an air conditioner in her apartment. “My mother taught me that, don’t let the hot air in, push the hot air out.”
Air conditioning is ideal, but box fans can still be very helpful in times of extreme heat, said Pellerito.
What makes this type of heat wave particularly dangerous is its duration, said Pellerito. On Thursday, after the advisory was extended, the region was on track to have six consecutive days hit 93 degrees or higher.
“Today (Thursday) will be the third, and if the forecast…holds, then we are looking at potentially six consecutive days with 93 or warmer as a high temperature,” he said. “More than six days has only ever happened once in 1953.”
National Weather Service meteorologists reported the temperature gathered at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Tuesday did set a record high for that date of 94 degrees. The previous record was 93, set in 1957.
At Valley View Terrace, the hallways were mostly devoid of residents. That’s good, Klapat said - it means most people were staying in their apartments and out of the strong afternoon sun.
“We’re staffing an extra ambulance today just to be proactive about it,” he said. “Luckily, it seems like on the hotter days, people are being smart about it.”
He called these check-ins vital during times of extreme heat. Many residents of the city’s high-rise buildings are older adults or people with special needs.
“In my opinion, the senior citizens and those with special needs are more vulnerable,” Klapats said.
Pellerito cautioned residents to not underestimate the heat. He said heat-related illness has become the “number one weather-related killer,” in the summer months and anyone can be affected.
Highs will remain in the 90s over the weekend, he said, then the region could “cool down” into the 80s by Monday and Tuesday.
The heat advisory covering Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike and Wayne counties is in effect until Friday at 8 p.m.
