Phoenix Heat Wave Claims 18 Lives

PHOENIX — A record heat wave has led to the deaths of 18 people, most of them homeless, leaving officials scrambling to provide water and shelter to the city’s transient population.

For the first time in years, homeless shelters opened their doors during the day to offer respite from the blistering sun, which has delivered above-average temperatures every day since June 29. Police passed out thousands of bottles of water donated by grocery stores, and city officials set up tents downtown to provide shade.

“I don’t know why I’m not burnt to pieces,” said Chris Cruse, 48, after taking refuge in a shelter.

Four more bodies were found Wednesday. Fourteen of the victims were thought to be homeless. Authorities did not know if a man found by the side of a road Sunday had a permanent residence.

The other three victims were elderly women, including one whose home cooling system was not on, police said.

“Most of us just run from air-conditioned box to air-conditioned box, so it’s hard to imagine how omnipresent the heat really is for the homeless here,” said Phoenix police Sgt. Randy Force.

In all of last year, the state Department of Health Services documented 34 heat-related deaths among Arizona residents.

The number of illegal immigrants killed by heat-related illnesses while trying to cross the desert are counted separately.

The first deaths were reported Saturday. By Wednesday, the high temperature was 109 degrees. Even during the coolest part of the day, the mercury has failed to drop below 89 degrees.

David Waing, a former truck driver who’s been living on the streets of Phoenix for the last year, said he had been staying close to water by sleeping near one of the city’s irrigation canals.

“In the mornings, about 9 or 10 o’clock, when it starts getting really hot, we just jump in and take a swim,” he said. “The nights aren’t much better. When the wind does blow, it feels like a blast furnace.”

He and Cruse spent Wednesday at the Phoenix Rescue Mission watching movies in the shelter’s chapel, which was opened Monday to anyone needing a break from the heat.

The shelter also was turning on hoses so transients could wet their clothes.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said his office was asking Congress to provide utility assistance for soaring cooling bills the same way it provided for heating bills in Eastern states.

“Fair is fair. There are too many individuals dying of heat here,” Gordon said.

Maricopa County, including Phoenix and its suburbs, has a homeless population between 10,000 and 12,000 people, said Gloria Hurtado, the city’s human service director.