As temperatures climbed into the triple digits Wednesday, public community spaces in Santa Maria saw more people looking for relief from the heat.
For Christine Mudge, who does not have permanent housing, finding a place to escape the heat can be challenging.
“It’s really hard if you don’t know somebody already, like your family here,” Mudge said. “There’s just so many hours that you could be baking in the sun.”
At the Santa Maria Public Library, librarian Joanne Britton-Holland said the facility has seen an increase in people coming through its doors during the heat.
“There has been an increase in the number of people waiting to come in,” Britton-Holland said. “We definitely experience any type of weather event will trigger people to come in, especially if they’re unhoused or don’t have a place to go during the day.”
While the library does not have all the resources of a designated cooling center, Britton-Holland said it still provides a place for people to get out of the heat, along with access to water, Wi-Fi, and computers.
“We have computers they can use for up to three hours per day,” Britton-Holland said. “They don’t need a library card to come in and use the resources.
Public community centers aren’t the only places providing relief during the heat.
Edwin Weaver, executive director of Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, a nonprofit that supports youth and their families, said the organization is not a designated cooling center but made a point of installing air conditioning for anticipated days like these.
“Not a lot of us in Santa Maria have air conditioners, but we decided that was very important because we knew we’d have days like today, over 100 degrees,” Weaver said.
Weaver said young people have been able to stop by, get water, and spend time indoors to escape the heat.
“They’re getting out of the heat,” Weaver said. “Nobody’s rushing them off. Nobody tells them that they have to leave.
Santa Maria Fire Department Battalion Chief Seth Wells said the department has seen calls involving dehydration, people feeling faint, and other heat-related issues.
“We’ll get people calling with just feeling faint or definitely dehydration, especially in elderly population as well,” Wells said. “Then we get a large number of our unhoused calls.”
Wells said people who spend long periods outside in the heat can be especially vulnerable.
“We’ll get people who are just sitting in the heat all day, and it just takes a toll on them,” Wells said.
Wells recommends avoiding heavy physical activity during extreme heat and staying hydrated. He also encourages people who need relief to seek out cooling centers and other public spaces.
