Calls soar to CAA as Boxing Day shoppers try to start their cars

It was a cold and crisp morning, and before most stores opened for their Boxing Day bonanzas, 150 people found out they wouldn't be heading to the malls anytime soon.

CAAManitoba spokesperson Liz Kulyk confirmed 150 people had called the auto club looking for a boost by 9 a.m. Tuesday as temperatures dropped into 30 C territory, with a windchill of 39.

"Itwent from 10 C one day and then it was literally 30 C. That first day of 30 C wasn't too bad, people were probably just starting to realize that their cars were struggling a bit, but now we're into day threeof 30 C and we're finding that a lot of people's batteries aren't just cold, they're frozen rock solid.

"And when they go out in the morning if they haven't plugged in, there's no way that car is starting."

CAA saw more than 600 people for Christmas day, said Kulyk, compared to the previous Monday at 190 calls.

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"It was around 650, it was 90 per cent boosts. So it was people that hadn't plugged in or didn't have the ability to plug in."

By 1 p.m. Tuesday, 750 people had made the cold call toCAA.

If people find themselves with a frozen car, there's a few things that can be done, said Kulyk.

"The first thing that we say is plug in to begin with, so you don't have to call us. The second thing we'd say is if you do have to call CAA for service, make sure you're somewhere warm. We will get to you as fast as possible but sometimes we have to prioritize people who aren't somewhere warm."

Last year at this time CAA was equally busy, but for a different reason.

"Last Christmas on Dec. 26 we had a huge dump of snow. Generally when CAA is busy it's because it's coldLast year was tows and pull-outs, this year it's boosts and other cold-weather related issues."

'Real'Winnipeg winter

The cold couldn't scare people away from the skating rink at The Forks, even if those people had left 30 C weather in Brazil only to find the exact opposite here in Winnipeg.

Cibele Camara and her mother, Edna Torres, came to Winnipeg to visit Cibele's sister, who lives in Brandon.

"It is really cold, really cold. But it's really beautiful, really beautiful," Cibele said. "Seeing the river and playing with the snow it gave us a lot of really good pictures."

"They told me they wanted to know what winter was really like, so that's why I brought them here," said Cristiane Camara.

She wasn't the only one at The Forks who wanted to show off a "real" Winnipeg winter. Kyle Laroche's cousins from Victoria, B.C. came to visit, so they headed down to the skating rink atThe Forks.

He had a message for anyone who thinks it was too cold to get outside: "It's Winnipeg, get used to it."

Laroche's cousin Sean Raymond is from Winnipeg, but the extreme cold on Tuesday still hit hard.

"Every time I come back, I think, 'I can't believe people live here.'"

Wednesday will be similarly cold, with a high of -24 C and a windchill of -37.