Cooling centers are money well spent

We’ve been hearing complaints about the city of Chico’s efforts to open a cooling center when the temperatures reach triple digits, as is expected to happen for several days in a row this week.

Our take: The community should be grateful the much-needed safety net is up and running.

For those who aren’t familiar with the terminology, cooling centers are places where the public can find relief from hot weather. The goal, of course, is to protect people from heat-related illness, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. In communities where they don’t exist, vulnerable folks often end up in hospital emergency rooms.

Locally, this newspaper has been calling for a cooling center in Chico for years. Indeed, back in 2017, we noted in an editorial the death of a homeless woman who was found outside on one of the hottest days of the year.

Cooling centers and warming centers are common in regions of the country that experience periods of extreme heat and cold. Such facilities often are set up by county health departments in coordination with their emergency management and preparedness personnel.

But that hasn’t happened around these parts, as we noted several years ago while reporting on the inadequacies of the county’s so-called Extreme Cold Weather Plan, a piece of the larger Emergency Operations Plan that dictates certain services be provided by the county during disasters (see “Freeze out,” Newslines, Dec. 18, 2014).

We followed up on its failings this past winter when the temperatures dropped below freezing and there weren’t any preparations despite the closure of the Red Cross facility at the fairgrounds and a burgeoning homeless population following the Camp Fire (see “Asleep at the wheel,” Editorial, Feb. 14).

Thankfully, the city of Chico set aside funding for such safety nets. The municipality initially paid for overnight warming centers in the form of tents with heating lamps, portable toilets, hand-washing stations and safety personnel. Then it began partnering with the Jesus Center, which opened its doors to provide respite.

The partnership has continued during this summer’s heatwaves, including the current cycle. According to city management and the Jesus Center’s executive director, Laura Cootsona, the arrangement with the nonprofit costs the city $550-$600 on each day that it’s open (winter warming centers cost more because they are open overnight). One day, she told us, upward of 90 people sought refuge from the heat.

In our minds, that’s money well spent.