Extreme heat used to be a weather inconvenience. It is now a new normal that is reshaping what wildfire season even means, and it is showing up in restoration work well before any fire starts, according to Andrew Platt (pictured), Regional Operations Manager for B.C. at First Onsite.
"We used to look at heat waves as a weather inconvenience, but now it's a new normal," Platt said. "It really is about that extreme heat, those extended dry conditions, and then resulting forest fires. So, you can't really talk about one without the other anymore."
Even without a single triggering event, heat is surfacing in the work in what Platt called some interesting ways. The first is inside his own operation: protecting staff members doing physical work in extreme conditions, with the right supports, hydration, cooling-off periods and job planning.
The second is on the properties themselves. Homes and businesses are being affected by sustained heat in ways that accumulate quietly, Platt said – roofs drying out, high strain on HVAC and cooling systems, and dry material building up in gutters and eavestroughs, creating conditions that could lead to fire.
"We really have to be mindful of how the heat is building towards something that could be more risk for a homeowner or business owner, and then subsequently the insurance carrier," Platt said.
Asked whether there is a direct link between heat and the damage that drives restoration work, Platt was unequivocal.
"Absolutely, there is that direct link to what we're seeing," he said – in HVAC systems, in roofing, and in the expansion and contraction of building materials under temperature swings. The strain reaches all the way down to foundations, he added, as the earth around a building dries out.
His advice to owners is to watch their assets closely: check roofs regularly for cracks or wear from the extreme heat and address them early, before a rainstorm or the autumn months turn small damage into leaks; make sure HVAC systems are well-maintained and resilient enough to keep up.
"We're talking about temperatures in 40 degrees or higher for sustained periods of time," Platt said. "That really does put a lot of load on an HVAC system – but in a greater sense, on the power network, province to province."
That grid-level strain is why First Onsite is also telling businesses and homeowners to plan for power outages, he said – looking at backup power options, or at minimum a plan for continuing day-to-day operations if an outage hits.
The insurer relationship is evolving along the same lines, Platt said. Carriers are looking to restoration contractors to work in that environment and deliver at a high level, and First Onsite is building action plans for heat events specifically. Insurers are also leaning on restoration expertise for something more particular: validation.
"I think insurance companies are really looking for guidance on some of this as well," Platt said, "to make sure that if they're seeing certain building materials affected, we can validate through the expertise we have that it is in fact related to the heat dome event or a heat wave event."
Underneath all of it sits a gap Platt returned to at the end of the conversation: the distance between how worried people are and how prepared they are. A First Onsite survey conducted earlier this year drew strong public participation, he said, and the message was consistent – people are concerned about wildfire season and heat events, and they want to know what they can do.
"That really comes down to planning and having the right conversations," Platt said. His advice starts with the household or the business: an action plan everyone understands, clarity on who monitors alerts, and who makes the judgment call if a business needs to shut down or change course.
The plans themselves are concrete. Go-bags packed in a grab-and-go scenario or in a fuelled-up vehicle, with backed-up data, passports and insurance documents, medications, pet supplies, cash and cards, and backup batteries – ready for a notice from local authorities that may demand a quick decision.
"A lot of things that you see becoming complicated is people don't take the time to prepare in advance," Platt said.
The same preparation applies to the property itself, he said: walking the grounds, clearing landscaping debris left from spring, keeping a 10-metre barrier around the home or business free of anything volatile, and putting away propane tanks and yard furniture – so that firefighters can respond unobstructed and fast-moving fires are given no help.
For heat events specifically, Platt added one more layer of preparedness that has nothing to do with property: checking on vulnerable neighbours, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, and knowing where cooling-off areas are.
"As we go through these events, we're taking care of one another," Platt said. "I think that sometimes we lose sight of how important that is."
