With rising temperatures in the City of Calgary, there is also a growing temptation to cool off in the Bow and Elbow Rivers, but fire crews say it’s still not safe to head out onto the water.
Fire officials say that the Bow River is continuing to flow at flood levels and the banks are unstable and unsafe after they were lashed by flood water late in June.
Deputy Fire Chief Ken Uzeloc says that the situation is frustrating when people won’t listen.
“It’s disheartening people aren’t going to heed the warnings, and those warnings are there for your own safety.”
The fire department says they had to conduct a few water rescues after people got themselves into trouble after going out on the water during the fireworks display on Monday night.
“There were two rafts that were on the upstream end of the Bow. They were proceeding to have a bonfire on one of the islands on the Bow. We had to dispatch rescue crews to get them off the water because it is still too high for people and there is a ban still on the rivers,” Uzeloc said.
He says they’ll continue to work with the CPS, who has the ban in place under their authority, to continue to keep people off until it is safe.
