Ashland to open severe weather shelter Thursday through Sunday
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
The city of Ashland will open a shelter at its 2200 Ashland St. property for multiple days this week and will endeavor to continue offering the shelter as weather conditions require, said Emergency Management Coordinator Kelly Burns.
“The city is committed to offering the severe weather shelter,” he said.
Ashland will see highs of 101, 106, 107, 103, 101 and 100 Thursday through Tuesday, respectively, according to the National Weather Service forecast as of Tuesday afternoon. Lows are expected to be in the mid- to high 60s.
The NWS has issued an excessive heat warning from 8 a.m. Thursday, July 4, through 9 p.m. Monday, July 8, for wide areas of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Dangerously hot conditions of 110 to 115 temperatures are expected in portions of the forecast area.
The Ashland shelter will be open from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 4, and will open each day through Sunday, July 7, and possibly into next week, depending on the next report from the National Weather Service.
The shelter will depend on volunteers to operate it. Burns said volunteer coordinator Avram Sacks has told him the city has sufficient volunteers to staff the shelter through the week.
The city will need more volunteers to open shelters through coming heat waves and wildfire smoke events. A volunteer orientation will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, at 2200 Ashland St.
The city sent out a request for proposals April 17 in the hopes of finding an entity to operate both the severe weather shelter and the city’s dusk-to-dawn sleeping area (also called the night lawn). The window for proposals closed May 8 with no responses, Burns said.
In a 2022 resolution, the city established temperature thresholds for calling the shelter: 32 degrees and below, 95 degrees and above, an air quality index of 150 or above, or “any combination of weather conditions, community circumstances, including interruption of electricity or essential city services which …. make conditions hazardous to human life,” according to the resolution.
The city of Ashland is required to operate a Severe Weather Shelter at the 2200 Ashland property as part of its obligations under terms of receiving the grant funds used to purchase the building, as previously reported by Ashland.news.
Residents are advised to drink water and exercise caution during the heat wave, according to a release from the city of Ashland. Shelter from the heat can also be found in city of Ashland parks, including access to water at locations such as the Lithia Park swimming reservoir, the splash pad at Garfield Park and the Daniel Meyer Pool in Hunter Park, according to the release.
To learn more about volunteering for the shelter, contact Sacks at [email protected] or 541-220-7307. To receive notifications when the Severe Weather Shelter is activated, text 97520SHELTER to 888777.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected]. Ashland.news Editor Bert Etling contributed to this report.
