MEDICINE HAT, AB – The end is in sight for the arctic air mass we’ve dealt with this week, but it’s not gone yet.
Extreme cold warnings remain in place.
And the staff at Willie’s 24 Hour Towing have had a busy week during this cold snap.
Willie Langille says they’re seeing a bit of everything over the last few days, from vehicle tows to boosts.
“We’ve been running steady. A lot of troubles, break-downs, freeze-ups, no starts.”
His crew is doing three times more calls compared to a regular day.
Most calls are within the city, with a few out of town.
“We’ve had a lot of tire changes, people happen to bump a curve and in cold weather, they have a low tire so we’ve been changing tires,” Langille added.
The below zero temperatures are much of the same story for furnace and heating companies, with the cold causing many issues in homes.
The goal for Marvellous Plumbing & Heating is to get the heat back on first, then tend to other concerns.
“Heat is the main priority. It’s kind of life or death when it gets to minus 45,” says Owner Craig Martineau. He says they’re seeing complete freeze-ups of houses, water lines, and pipes.
“I must be backed up probably 50 mobile homes that have no sewer or water but they have heat. So we’ve had to postpone them,” he said.
Even homes, new and old are having issues.
Martineau says many times houses are completely frozen and they need to thaw them first before they can assess the issue.
“We had a kitchen sink drain froze before that people have lived there for ten years and never had an issue before. It’s just so cold for so long that a bunch of weird stuff like this happens.”
And when it warms up, then comes another set of problems.
“Now a bunch of people’s pipes will unfreeze that are broken and they don’t even know and we get lots more flood calls and stuff like that,” Martineau added.
There are ways to prevent some winter issues in your home and vehicle.
Martineau says if you find your furnace acting funny, get it looked at sooner rather than later to avoid a bigger problem down the road.
As for your vehicle, Langille says to keep an eye on your battery, make sure your car is tuned up, and plug it in if you’re able.
