During this Extreme Cold warning in Prince George, it’s pretty much a guarantee that our homeless shelters and tow truck drivers will be kept on their toes.
James Barron is the Owner of Black Sheep Towing who says the wait time for a tow truck could go from minutes to hours.
“Our goal is about 17 to 25 minutes by the time we get the call when the snow hits or we end up with these extreme cold snaps it almost gets to a point where we can’t even guarantee a call. You are looking at waits of three to five hours sometimes.”
Barron states the issue is compounded even more due to a limited number of drivers.
“Often at this time, there is a huge, huge demand as some people forget to plug their car in, don’t have good batteries and some people don’t let their car warm up enough. People have to get to work and my phone rings, and rings and rings but there are really only so many of us around.”
He adds call volumes could reach the triple-digits.
Kerry Pateman with the Community Partners Addressing Homelessness expects all of our homeless shelters to be overcapacity.
“The only worry I have is the strain that will be placed upon them but again, their first priority is to make sure nobody is left outside.”
In October, the province announced funding for 40 extra beds for the Ketsoh Yoh Centre, the Association Advocating for Women and Community (AWAC) and Active Support Against Poverty Housing Society in PG.