Heat Safety Drive Launched in W. Hollywood

A day when the temperature is a relatively pleasant 83 degrees might not seem like the best day to launch a hot-weather safety campaign for senior citizens.

But there was a large and attentive audience Wednesday when West Hollywood’s acting City Public Safety Director Rich Ryan distributed free water bottles, vouchers for flashlights and safety tips printed in English and Russian for residents of an apartment house on West Knoll Drive.

Some in the crowd, it turned out, were a little hot under the collar about an upcoming seismic upgrade project at the building that will require their relocation to different apartments.

The meeting was set up by the Los Angeles County Housing Authority to explain the project, and Ryan viewed it as a perfect opportunity to corral a captive audience to discuss hot weather problems.

It may not seem like it yet, but hot weather and power brownouts are coming to West Hollywood, Ryan warned the crowd.

“The city wants you to protect yourself from the high heat this summer that’s predicted by the weatherman. We want you to remember to drink plenty of water,” he said.

“The electric company may have to turn off the power in the next week or two and we want to make sure you have a flashlight to get around your apartment if it suddenly gets dark.”

Ryan, whose warnings were translated into Russian, spoke of the dangers of heatstroke and heat exhaustion. He urged the elderly crowd to closely study the “Heat Advisory” safety tips.

They offer the usual suggestions about drinking plenty of water or juice, wearing lightweight and light-colored clothing and hats, and avoiding strenuous activity on hot days.

But the advisory also warns against drinking caffeine or alcohol during heat waves, and suggests eating small meals and avoiding foods that are high in protein.

The danger signs for heatstroke include hot, red and dry skin and a rapid, weak pulse accompanied by rapid, shallow breathing.

Less dangerous is heat exhaustion, which occurs when sweat does not evaporate as it should and the body is not cooled properly, according to the city advisory.

Medical aid should be sought immediately for heatstroke. Heat exhaustion can be treated by loosening clothing and applying cool, wet towels to the skin. Cool water should be sipped slowly.

City officials handed out 500 bottles of water at the afternoon session and at a similar morning meeting at an apartment house on North Palm Avenue. Vouchers for 300 free flashlights were distributed.

And if they needed proof of their warnings’ validity, West Hollywood leaders had only to look north Wednesday to the San Fernando Valley or south to Orange County.

In the Valley, the temperature in Chatsworth registered 101, causing operators of the nonprofit Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship organization to use garden hoses to spray down the horses--and each other.

“The best thing about giving a horse a bath is you get as wet as it does,” program director Gloria Hamblin said.

The horses are used to teach disabled people how to ride. In the summer, Hamblin adds salt to the food of some horses to make them thirstier if she thinks they are not drinking enough water.

A few miles away in North Hollywood, operators of the L.A. Family Housing Corp. shelter for the homeless were gearing up for those driven in from the street by hot weather.

“When it’s hot like this, it affects their ability to survive in encampments. People who wouldn’t come in for services start coming in because they can’t take the heat,” said Jeff Farber, the program’s chief operating officer.

In Orange County, residents were experiencing the summer’s first brownouts as high energy users--such as colleges and local industries--juggled operations Wednesday to curb usage and avoid rolling blackouts.

Power regulators called for voluntary conservation measures into the evening hours but stopped short of shutting off power to neighborhoods, a measure they have not had to take “in decades,” said Southern California Edison spokesman Tom Boyd.

That didn’t mean, though, that power was flowing freely. Golden West College officials agreed to an Edison request to close down the Huntington Beach campus, and Newport Beach chip maker Conexant Systems Inc. dimmed its lights and cut back on air-conditioning.

Customers at Knott’s Berry Farm found that the heat reduced their entertainment options. Park officials shut down four rides for just over three hours in the middle of the afternoon Wednesday, the second straight day such measures were taken. The theme park also turned down air-conditioning and lights in employee areas.

At Disneyland, power use was curtailed but mostly in places invisible to park goers, said park spokesman Ray Gomez. Lights and air-conditioning in employee areas were shut down, but the rides kept going.

Although Wednesday’s temperatures were nowhere near record-breaking highs, relatively high humidity from moist subtropical air drawn into the region by a stationary high-pressure system made it seem warmer than it was.

It should be cooler and more comfortable today, said Stacey Johnstone, a forecaster for WeatherData Inc., which provides weather information to The Times.

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Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Roberto J. Manzano in the San Fernando Valley and Scott Martelle and Leslie Earnest in Orange County.