This is Tracey McKinlay, one of 619 people who died in B.C.’s heat dome

Tracey McKinlay didn’t have an easy life. The 61-year-old had suffered from mental-health issues for decades, and spent her final years in an subsidized living building in New Westminster, which was run by BC Housing and the legion.

McKinlay was among the 619 people who died as a direct result of the extreme heat last summer. Tragically, like the majority of the other victims, McKinlay died alone in her apartment.

Her sister Jeanne Hansen told CityNews the long-term effects of Tracey’s medication had taken a toll on her kidneys and the effect of the heat killed her.

“We didn’t expect her apartment to be as hot as it would become. I have another sister who lives in the area, and unfortunately both of us had been away leading up to that heat wave week. The other sister had spoken to Tracey just a day or two prior and she indicated everything was good,” Hansen said.

Related article: B.C. heat review: Coroner says more coordinated response needed after deadly 2021 event

Hansen says people in her sister’s building were doing their best, adding caretakers were knocking on doors to check on residents both morning and night.

“She had responded up until the last evening when they knocked and she didn’t respond, and they entered her apartment and found her deceased in her chair,” Hansen said.

“She didn’t have the awareness to be able to go to a cooling station, didn’t have the awareness that the heat would affect her as much as it did. And we didn’t either.”

McKinlay died on June 28, 2021, a day on which the temperature at Vancouver International Airport reached 31.7 degrees Celsius. With humidity, it felt like 40 C.

“It’s just unprecedented,” said Jane Armstrong, McKinlay’s other sister. “Here in B.C., that doesn’t happen. And apparently now it does. And apparently, that’s going to be our new normal. My message to not just the government, but people is watch out for the vulnerable people.”

When asked about her sister, Hansen says what she feels most these days is regret.

“I feel remorseful and guilty that we didn’t know that that was happening. She’s one of (619) that their families are feeling the exact same. Since we can’t do anything to prevent what happened to her specifically, we can try and do something to prevent it from happening to other people,” she said.

Armstrong recalls talking to Tracy over the phone in the days before her death.

“She’s just kind of going, ‘Yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine.’ I shouldn’t have listened to her. Jeanne was saying that we should just go check out where people are, and see if it’s fine, because apparently it wasn’t.”

She and others in her family saw the extreme weather warnings, but didn’t realize it could be life-threatening.

“20/20 hindsight, we would have done something differently, we would have gone and got her and taken her to my house. I have a basement, a cool basement. But we just didn’t know how serious it is.”

“She was a kind soul. She lived a hard life but she always gave everything, and everyone in New West knew her,” Hansen said.

As she had already passed, Hansen says the ambulance was not called, but police arrived on scene. Due to the heavy volume of calls, those officers stayed with her sister through the night waiting for the coroner to arrive.

“I do certainly feel for those poor officers who had to be in the same heat, in the same building,” Hansen said of the respect the New Westminster police officers paid to her sister. “I’m very grateful that that’s what they did.”

Hansen says she received a coroner’s report into her sister’s death nearly a year after she died.

 

On Tuesday, B.C.’s chief coroner released a report into the 619 deaths, which were a direct result of last summer’s extreme heat.

The majority of the deaths were in people 70 years of age or older, and more than half lived alone. Most of those who died lived in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities.

Only seven per cent of those who died had an air conditioner in the home, but in most cases the unit was in a different room or improperly used.

The report confirmed long waits for ambulances. For 50 people, paramedics took longer than 30 minutes to respond. Six people called 911 but were told that there were no ambulances available at the time of the call. In more than half of the calls, the average response time for paramedics to arrive was 10 minutes and 25 seconds.

“Essentially, people didn’t take it as seriously as we perhaps now think we should have taken it and we’re all guilty of that,” said Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, chief medical health officer with the BC Coroners Service.

Related article: B.C. announces extreme heat emergency alert system

Following McKinlay’s death, the family has been able to donate almost 90 fans to the building where she lived. Their efforts continue and are asking for anyone who can to make a donation by emailing traceyslegacy@gmail.com.

“It has to be where they are,” Hansen said. “It can’t be just a warning system. It would have done nothing for Tracey. She didn’t have a cellphone, she didn’t really watch a lot of news. It wouldn’t have really registered for her mentally to make the effort to leave.”

She adds many seniors are in the same situation.

“They don’t have the mental capacity to do it. They need cooling centres where they are. What we would like to see in her building and others is cooling centres built into the lobby,” she said.

The panel that released the report on Tuesday makes several key recommendations, which include the implementation of the broadcast intrusive alert for an Extreme Heat Emergency, wellness checks, and to consult with vulnerable populations.

By 2023, the province will ensure rebates are available for passive and active cooling measures.