TROY — The City of Troy, a small community in Northwest Montana has the distinction of having the lowest elevation in the state, this week, they also have some of the highest temperatures.
“When it’s calm like this it stays here, the heat stays here. It doesn’t move there’s no wind, so it stays here,” Troy Mayor Dallas Carr told MTN News.
Carr is born and raised in Troy having lived in the town with less than 1,000 population for 66 years.
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He’s never seen a heatwave quite like this. “I’ve seen some hot days, but I don’t remember many consecutively like this, this is like five, six days."
Carr said Troy is a pretty nice place to be during a heatwave thanks to the abundance of freshwater lakes, creeks and the Kootenai River that flows right through town.
“We’ve got all kinds of water, we’ve got the Kootenai, we’ve got our little creeks and streams that come through town, Callahan Creek, Lake Creek, we’ve got all kinds of lakes out, Bull Lake seven miles long, very beautiful lake,” said Carr.
Troy resident Jamie Campbell is taking her son Luke down to the Kootenai River to cool off this week.
She said the water is refreshing but also a little chilly, "perfect, it is, I mean I can’t feel my feet but as soon as I get out, they’re back,” said Campbell.
Campbell and her family moved to Troy from Florida just over a month ago, she said this extreme heat is on par with Florida summers.
“Because we come from Florida expecting a much milder summer but the temperatures here are even hotter than over there, so it’s insane,” said Campbell.
Troy resident David Beckingham is keeping cool this week in his air-conditioned home and doing some fishing with his wife in shaded areas.
“But if I’m going to do something I try to come out early in the morning and then don’t do too much during the day and then come out in the evening again,” said Beckingham
Troy Police Chief Katie Davis is asking residents to avoid doing strenuous work outside during the hottest hours of the day.
“You know if it can wait a couple days it’s definitely worth it, try and stay cool, I wouldn’t work past probably 11 a.m., you can tell them I told you to take the day off,” said Chief Davis.
Carr said he’s all set up at home to wait this heatwave out.
“Well, I put a mister up on my patio on my umbrella, and me and Linda have been staying inside, the dogs staying inside, I can’t even pull him outside,” said Carr.
Carr is hoping temperatures cool down a little by next week as Troy is set to host their annual 4th of July Fireworks show attracting close to 6,000 people.
