NINJAnow shuts down food delivery service in Kelowna, West Kelowna due to heat
An Okanagan delivery service is taking the next few days off in the Central Okanagan as restaurants are closing due the heat wave.
Cheryl Kerik, owner of NINJAnow, said restaurants are shutting down across Kelowna and West Kelowna because their kitchens are too warm, leaving the delivery service without food to deliver.
“We had maybe three left open on takeout only and there’s just no point in having our cars out there because we’re having the same problem, cars are overheating, drivers are overheating, phones are overheating,” she said.
Weather temperatures have been shattered across the province this week as B.C.'s unprecedented heat wave continues.
For three restaurants in one town and a couple in the other is not worth staying open for, she said.
“Yesterday was a nightmare, it was so busy, it was out of control. We had wait times up to two-and-a-half hours in some towns, not because we didn’t start with a lot of drivers, but because they all went down,” Kerik said.
“Their tires are sticking to the pavement, it’s so hot.”
With the fire near Peachland, it’s been impossible to get drivers in and out of the area, she said. A wildfire near the Okanagan Connector has shutdown the eastbound right lane of the route between Brenda Mine Road and Trepanier Road.
Services were limited yesterday due to the heat but the delivery company has decided to take today and tomorrow off, Kerik said.
The company serves more than 240 restaurants across the Okanagan Valley and while Penticton and Vernon restaurants are still operating, Kelowna and West Kelowna ones have been shutting down, she said. The delivery service has 213 drivers in the valley, with 61 in Kelowna and 83 in West Kelowna.
NINJAnow will be closed today and tomorrow, July 1, in Kelowna and West Kelowna before coming back into full force on Friday, Kerik said. If enough restaurants come back online, the delivery service may reconsider returning sooner.
Kerik herself went to Vernon yesterday and her car shut down due to the heat, she said.
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