It usually happens on a handful of occasions around the city during the hottest days of summer.
However, Farrow said it has become more frequent of late, due to recent prolonged record-setting temperatures. On Tuesday, June 29, the city set an all-time high temperature record for the third consecutive day, with a high of 46.4 C at Kamloops Airport. The city has received about a dozen or so reports in the past week.
“Extreme things happen with these extreme heats,” Farrow said. “We have equipment issues, we have air-conditioning issues. Well, this is just soil and that granular material, as well as the concrete and asphalt, doing funky things.”