Temps climb to 107 in Santa Rosa as heat wave begins across the Bay Area

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - In the North Bay, Santa Rosa fire officials say the temperature reached 107 today, and they're preparing staff and the public for more hot weather this week. 

Fire officials say things were calm Tuesday, although it was hotter than usual. 

"The heat’s brutal. I have the air conditioner out. Spent some time at Russian River. Walked down to the ice cream shop. I got to make the most of it," said Grant Taggart, of Santa Rosa. 

People at The Old Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa say they’re not used to feeling triple digit temperatures. City fire officials say the temperature peaked at 107 in Santa Rosa on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, most of Santa Rosa is not prepared for a lot of heat. I don’t have air conditioning built in, so I have one of those portable units," said Taggart. 

Fire officials say they’ve already responded to two grass fires this week. They’re also concerned about a rise in calls about heat exhaustion and are encouraging people to stay hydrated and out of the heat as much as possible.

"We’ve actually been monitoring our own weather stations, taking a look at what the conditions are like around our city. They're varying anywhere from about 100 degrees to upwards of 107 throughout Santa Rosa," said Paul Lowenthal, with the Santa Rosa Fire Dept.

Lowenthal also says cooling centers and two public swimming pools are open during the heat wave. As evening approached and temperatures began to fall, people said they wanted to get out of the house, but they still had one thing on their mind: air conditioning.

"We have two AC units. So, one of them is broken, and the other one is towards the end of its life span, and it’s between $10,000 and $29,000 to replace," said Sarena Berg, of Marin County. 

"We have air conditioning now. We just got it last year; we feel so lucky. Otherwise, it’s miserable. Then, of course, there’s ice cream," said Beth Steffy, of Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa Fire says they’ll have staff ready to answer fire calls and, due to the holiday, this week, they plan to have a enforcement crew out trying to handle illegal use of fireworks. 

Santa Rosa Fire also says it's sending firefighters to Butte County to help with the Thomas and Toll fires. 

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