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Bellingham seeks to alleviate summer heatwave issues

City eyeing cooling centers, other services

Though climate change is an international issue
Though climate change is an international issue (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
By Julia Lerner Staff Reporter

As average temperatures across the country continue to climb, staff in Bellingham’s Climate Action Office are exploring new ways to combat extreme heat-related issues in the city. 

The office, staffed by Bellingham’s Climate Action Manager Seth Vidaña and Environmental Resource Manager Clare Fogelsong, has plans to help alleviate extreme heat for those most at-risk, including homeless and low-income residents. 

“I’m trying to build on our committee response to extreme heat,” Fogelsong told members of the Bellingham City Council Climate Action Committee during its April 24 meeting.

Building on that response, he said, requires the shelters and cooling centers the city has relied on in the past, but expanding as well: not just providing services in downtown Bellingham, but to homebound residents in other neighborhoods. That could include increasing availability of air conditioning and monitoring units in private residences, he said. 

Homebound residents are at high risk of illness and complications due to extreme heat during a summer heat wave. 

“During an extreme heat event in an apartment, the temperatures reach critical levels that can impair the health of these folks,” he told council members. “Same thing with the smoke events.” 

In 2021, a weeklong heat wave across western Washington claimed the lives of about 100 residents, including several in Whatcom County, according to the state Department of Health. A new study from the University of Washington, though, said those estimates are low, calling heat “a quiet killer.” The study identified more than 150 heat-related deaths in the state as a result of the heatwave. 

Council members agreed, and said supporting low-income residents, seniors, and those identified as “high-risk” during heat waves should be a priority. 

It’s typically “seniors, people with low incomes, living in structures that were never designed to address climate action,” council member Dan Hammill said. “That needs to be a priority, and I’m glad that we’re getting on with a pilot program. I just hope we can accelerate that process.” 


Hammill, who grew up in Wisconsin, said it was really common to see window-mounted air conditioning units around his hometown, and was struck by the lack of them when he moved to Bellingham. 

The April 24 meeting was the first climate action committee meeting of 2023, where council members heard updates about ongoing projects, including extreme heat preparations. 

Beyond preparations for extreme heat, the climate action office is juggling several other climate-related projects, including a home-electrification program, installation of electric vehicle charging stations and preparing for climate migration, Vidaña and Fogelsong told council members. 

Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood established the climate action office last year, designating Vidaña and Fogelsong to tackle projects from the climate action plan. In the future, Fleetwood hopes more staff will be able to join the office. 

“We want to see benchmarks. We want to see evidence that we’re actively making progress in these areas,” Fleetwood said on Monday. “Our anticipation is there will be dollars to expand over time.”

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