Coping with Phoenix's extreme heat: Ice distributed to families without power

Heat envelops our lives in Arizona's Sonoran Desert. How does it define us?

A fundamental element of living in the Valley in 2024 is air conditioning. Most people could not survive here without it. When it goes out in the summer, it can be an emergency.

Jay Kline, general manager at Penguin Air, said his company is getting around 150 daily calls.

“June and July for us are usually absolutely nuts," Kline said. "We do our best, of course, to staff as many technicians as we can.”

But not only do AC repair companies need to take care of customers — they also have to worry about their workers. Many AC units in the Valley are on roofs , often forcing technicians to be in full sun.

“We also make sure to keep our guys' safety in mind as well and make sure that we are not out there overworking them, putting them in those hot attics and rooftops for too long,” Kline said.

This week, Arizona Republic reporters and photographers are spreading out across the hottest major metro area in the U.S. to explore how desert dwellers suffer from the heat, adapt and survive. Here's what we found on Friday, July 26, 2024.

Follow along with live coverage from Republic reporters in one of the hottest weeks of the year in the Phoenix area.

Monday's report: 'It's hotter than it's ever been'

Tuesday's report: 'My life revolves around the summer'

Wednesday's report: 'The sun, it gives life, but it will also take it'

Thursday's report: 'I normally wake up at 4:30 a.m.'

11:05 p.m., Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport: 99 degrees

The high for Friday reached 109 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, though it felt hotter at times because of humidity. The heat index reached 112 and 111 at times in the mid to late afternoon.

Between 11 p.m. and 11:05 p.m., the temperature finally dropped into the double-digits, to 99 degrees, according to National Weather Service data. It had consistently been 100 or above since 11:30 a.m.

— Republic staff

5:30 p.m., near Rio Salado Parkway and Rural Road, Tempe:

At Mountain America Community Iceplex, skaters come from all backgrounds: first-timers, seasoned professionals and parents holding wobbly children.

Twirling in the middle of it all Friday evening was college athlete Alena Kremer. With graceful leaps and focused precision, she glided across the ice to her own silent symphony in her headphones.

Kremer is a rising senior at a Pennsylvania college, and she's been skating for more than eight years. A former gymnast, she fell in love with the ice during a summer camp and made the switch to figure skating. Speakers at the ice rink pumped out Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" and other pop hits, punctuating her leaps and twists — but through her headphones, Kremer was listening to training materials that will prepare her to take the next step forward on her team.

Born and raised in Arizona, Kremer said she hasn't exactly gotten used to the heat, but she's found ways to avoid it, like skating.

"Even at the rink, you get hot sometimes," she said. "Certain rinks get really, really warm, but even just lying on the ice for a couple minutes helps."

Inching along closer to the rink's edge was Amy Whiteman and her son Kristopher, 7, holding hands as they moved across the ice.

"I'm going to try it without a trainer," Shane Whiteman, Kristopher's 9-year-old brother, had proudly proclaimed a few minutes before about a device that provides new skaters stability — essentially training wheels for ice skating.

Whiteman brought her three boys to the ice rink Friday for an affordable way to stay active and cool. It can be hard to find inexpensive activities to keep the whole family moving, she said, especially when spending a lot of time outdoors isn't a great option.

While she held Kristopher's hand, her son Karsten, also 7, held strong to a bright orange trainer a few paces behind them. And just behind Kristopher was Shane, indeed braving the slippery rink without assistance. Brow furrowed, he grunted in determination as he pushed his way forward like everyone else.

— Christina Avery

3:10 p.m., McDowell Road near the Grand Canal, Phoenix: 109 degrees

In the blistering Phoenix afternoon heat, some offered respite in the form of refreshing aguas frescas. 45-year-old

Raul Sosa, 45, from Guanajuato, Mexico, was working in a stand on the corner of North 26th Place and McDowell Road, just west of where the Grand Canal cuts across the major thoroughfare.

Sosa has lived in Arizona for the past three years and, like many residents, is acclimated to the heat.

"With three years living here, you get used to it," Sosa said. "You know you need to hydrate."

— Fernando Cervantes

2:45 p.m., 24th Street and the Salt River, Phoenix: 106 degrees

A Harris' Hawk let out a loud, hoarse scream from within its cage, kept at a shaded 77 degrees by a swamp cooler. The call seemed to be directed at Jan Miller, the animal care coordinator from Liberty Wildlife, as she walked through the hallways.

Miller bent down, grabbed a hose and sprayed a refreshing mist over the large cage.

"Birds have a higher body temperature than humans," Miller said. "They can overheat easily, so high temperatures are one of the greatest risks they face."

Last year during the warmer months, the center received between 120 and 150 injured animals daily. This year, Miller said, their busiest day saw nearly 200 arrivals, most of them birds.

— Trilce Estrada Olvera

2:30 p.m., southwest Phoenix: 107 degrees

Mikee Fabela pulled a blue wagon down 31st Avenue in southwest Phoenix on Friday afternoon.

The 11-year-old was hauling more than a dozen bags of ice picked up at an APS distribution site at nearby Sullivan Elementary School. He and his mom were going to hand it out to people nearby whose power went out Wednesday night.

“We try to help the community out,” said his mom, Crystal Noyes.

They offered up bags of ice to their neighbors and left it out in bowls for passing dogs.

Their power was on but even with the AC running, the temperature in their house was above 90 degrees.

“I’m always sweating,” Noyes said.

She said she wished she could have a kiddie pool outside for her kids to cool down, but the company that owns the property wouldn’t allow it. She moved from Southern California to Arizona seven years ago.

"I'm like, 'Why did I move here,'" she joked.

— Helen Rummel

1:45 p.m., South Mountain and Central avenues, 106 degrees

Masjid Jauharatul-Islam is known by its congregants as the American Southwest’s longest-standing mosque built from the ground up. It's situated on South Mountain Avenue near Central Avenue in Phoenix.

Two of the 43-year-old mosque’s three air conditioning units need replacing.

The mosque’s prayer room temperature reached 91.4 degrees as the humidity touched 42% about 1:45 p.m. Friday as a set of six plug-in fans gave limited cooling comfort while about 20 worshippers gathered.

“We just strive to come out because it’s pleasing Allah,” worshipper Jameelah Shamsiddeen said. “Despite the heat, despite all odds, and we always think about those that are less than fortunate than us. We still come because we want to pray together as a community.”

— Jose R. Gonzalez

1:40 p.m, Near 35th Avenue and Buckeye Road, Phoenix: 106 degrees

Hernan Muñoz, 20, was with his family on Friday while the back of their pickup truck was loaded up with bags of ice.

Muñoz was one of thousands of people affected by power outages on Wednesday, causing many in the Valley to lose AC in the midst of dangerous heat. His house reached temperatures hotter than outside, and he eventually decided to spend the night in his car with the windows rolled down to let in the breeze.

The AC came back on about 4 a.m. Thursday, and Muñoz was able to head back inside, where he fell asleep quickly.

“Right when I laid onto the bed, my eyes closed instantly,” he said.

But some in the area are still without electricity after severe storms throughout the week . At the peak of the outage on Wednesday, more than 13,000 homes were affected across the state.

An ice distribution team from Arizona Public Service Co. was stationed at Sullivan Elementary School on Friday with three pallets of ice. So far, it has gone through 200 bags today — and 900 last night. In the 106-degree heat, water dripped from the semitruck and pooled onto the black pavement.

— Helen Rummel

Noon, 7th Avenue south of Camelback Road: 104 degrees

Bobby Li struggled to pay his electricity bill after moving to Phoenix from Philadelphia six years ago.

The 74-year-old retired restaurant owner originally from Hong Kong lives on $1,100 a month from Social Security. He pays $330 monthly for a 1-bedroom, 460-square-foot apartment in a federally subsidized housing complex where almost all of the residents are Chinese immigrants.

His car expenses total $270 a month, including money for gas and insurance. That leaves only about $500 to survive.

His electricity bill was $35 in the winter months, but it soared to $85 in the summer.

Li visits the Phoenix Chinese Senior Center three or four times a week.

“This is my second home,” Li said.

During one of his visits, Li learned about a federal program administered by the Arizona Department of Economic Security that helps low-income people pay their electricity bills.

Li receives $700 a year through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The money is deposited into an SRP account in November, he said. Li uses it to pay his monthly electric bill until the money runs out.

As of July 26, Li said he had $86 left in the account. That amount, he figured, should get him through August.

Li said he sets his thermostat at 79 degrees. But when he leaves his apartment, he turns it up to about 83 degrees to cut down on his electricity bill. He turns it back down to 79 when he gets home.

“I have to wait 10 or 15 minutes to be comfortable,” Li said, sitting in a conference room at the Chinese Senior Center.

Li said he knows other seniors in his apartment complex who haven’t applied for the program or have been turned down. Some of them keep their thermostats at 85 degrees and use electric fans to try to stay cool, he said.

“So when it’s 115 outside, they are very suffering,” Li said.

A few years ago, Li applied to help drive other seniors to appointments through the AmeriCorps Senior Companion Program. When it’s really hot, he lets his Toyota Corolla run with the AC on for 10 or 15 minutes so his passengers don’t have to get in a hot car.

On Wednesday this week, he drove four people from his apartment complex to the Chinese Senior Center so they could fill out the paperwork to apply for the low-income energy assistance program.

When Li left the senior center at about 1 p.m. Friday, it was 104 degrees. The 30% humidity made it feel like 107. A reading of the pavement measured 168.8 degrees.

— Daniel Gonzalez

11:45 a.m., Drexel Heights neighborhood, southwest Tucson: 94 degrees

Frank Bencomo was called Friday to investigate a hole that had developed in a median in southwest Tucson, near the Drexel Heights neighborhood. Bencomo works for Tucson’s Zanjero Program, which offers free water efficiency audits to residents and commercial customers. His job requires him to spend a portion of the day outside.

“It can be hot. And when I say that, I'm talking about the sun burning you.” The heat, he said, “can be exhausting.”

In his truck, Bencomo brought a large-brimmed hat and a rag that can be wetted and worn around the neck, as well as a personal-sized water cooler.

He listed the important gear to wear and bring during a day working outside: light-colored clothing, long sleeves, hats and sunscreen.

“You have to expect the heat. You have to know what you're coming up against. Preparation is everything,” he said.

He also reiterated the importance of drinking plenty of water even before the workday starts.

“Preparation would be start drinking water first thing in the morning,” Bencomo said, adding that during the longer audits, he makes sure to take a water or snack break. Audits can require work outside for as little as 15 minutes or as long as an hour and a half, depending on the job.

Growing up in Tucson, Bencomo learned at a young age the dangers of not preparing for a hot day, he said. He recalled when he was younger, his brother suffered heat stroke after a day of digging holes for a wood fence. His brother survived, but it took him a few days to recover.

That experience, he said, taught him the importance of drinking water before any hard work outdoors.

“It was pretty scary,” Bencomo said.

— Sarah Lapidus

Why children are more prone to heat illness than adults

Gary Kirkilas, a pediatrician in the Homeless Youth Outreach Department at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, has provided medical care to homeless youth since 2015.

His office is a mobile medical unit — equipped with exam rooms, a laboratory and a pharmacy — that serves patients at shelters, schools and drop-in centers.

Kirkilas sees "a lot of heat-related illnesses" during the summer, especially among young children who may have been waiting at a bus stop to get to the location where the clinic is stationed, or among teens who are living on the streets, he said.

He treats mild cases of heat exhaustion every week.

“Every summer, we see people coming in that are exhibiting signs of having nausea, flushed faces,” he said.

Treating the heat exhaustion and preventing it from progressing to heat stroke, which can be life-threatening, consists of getting them out of the heat and into air conditioning, removing any kind of tight clothing and hydrating them, he said.

If he sees signs of heat stroke — like an altered level of consciousness, difficulty speaking or passing out, for example — he sends them to the emergency room.

Parents should be aware that kids are more prone to heat exhaustion — they heat up faster, since they have more surface area relative to their mass, and adults have better heat control mechanisms, Kirkilas said.

“If a parent or guardian is taking care of them, they have to kind of cut activities well before they feel hot, because kids are usually getting hotter more quickly than they are — and plus, there’s that communication barrier" among toddlers and infants, he said.

Children with asthma need to be especially careful, since poor air quality days and high heat typically go hand in hand, Kirkilas said.

The Phoenix Children’s Hospital Emergency Department has so far seen roughly the same number of heat-related illnesses compared to this time last year, according to a spokesperson.

According to preliminary 2024 data from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, children 17 and under make up around 4% of hospital visits for heat-related illness. Individuals between 18-25 make up around 10%.

— Madeleine Parrish

11:45 a.m., Dozens of parents with children play at library children's center: 101 degrees

Dozens of parents with young children played at Burton Barr Library’s children's center Friday morning.

The library’s “Music and Movement” class was at 10 a.m. But nearly an hour after class ended, dozens of parents still lingered talking to each other as their kids played with the interactive toys and books.

Taylor O’Malley said the library and Phoenix Children’s Museum are go-to places for her and her 4-year-old son. The children’s museum hosts bubble foam parties that her son loves. Drivers who pass by, heading north and south along Seventh Street, can see the mountains of bubbles.

Reacting to the heat, she said, “I don’t mind it. I like the heat. The other months of the year are worth it.”

O’Malley’s family also likes to visit friends who have pools, and typically they pay for memberships to a few indoor places for summer fun. The Children’s Museum and OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale are their favorites.

OdySea’s is a little pricey, she said, “but all things considered, it’s worth it for the summer.”

— Taylor Seely

Native Americans overrepresented for heat deaths in Maricopa County

Maricopa County Public Health reported 35 Native people perished from heat in 2023, which the agency said was 5% of all heat-related deaths. The county also reported that Native Americans were the most overrepresented group suffering from heat deaths since the American Indian and Alaska Native population is only 2.9% of the county’s total population.

The county hired a tribal liaison this year to put a larger focus on that and other health issues related to the county’s large urban Indian population.

Local tribes also have extreme heat protocols.

Both the Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Gila River Indian communities have cooling stations.

Gila River’s stations, located at the tribe’s seven district service centers, are open for extended periods when high temperatures reach 110 degrees or above. The 20,700-member tribe also enacted an extreme heat plan and held a heat awareness event in May.

A spokesperson for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community said the 11,000-member tribe also has protocols in place to help elders and other community members who need assistance fixing their cooling systems. The spokesperson also said that the tribe is continuing with a policy that will house tribal members free of charge when extended power outages occur. Salt River also has a community emergency response team composed of tribal members, staff and tribal and enterprise employees that mobilizes for various events including extreme heat events.

— Debra Utacia Krol

11:30 a.m., Management says AC restored to Phoenix apartments: 101 degrees

A Phoenix apartment complex has fixed its residents' broken and ineffective air conditioners following a demand from the state Attorney General, the complex's property management said Friday.

Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a demand letter to the property owner, Buenas Communities LLC, on July 19, giving the company one week to repair up to 400 broken or ineffective air conditioning units at their complex located on 32nd Avenue and Indian School Road.

Just before 11:30 a.m. Friday, Robert Farrell, an official with Buenas Communities, said the air conditioning was "up and running" in the complex.

— Vivian Barrett

10:45 a.m., Limiting car trips to 10 minutes because of broken AC: 98 degrees

Jo Perez and her fiance haven’t had AC in their car for the past three years. They try to keep their drives to a maximum of 10 minutes, especially to keep their three children safe.

Children four and under are at a heightened risk of heat stroke because their ability to regulate temperature hasn’t fully developed, according to the Mayo Clinic . Friday morning, Perez dropped off her fiance at work, then took her 5-month-old to the doctor. She stopped at Burton Barr Library to break up the drive and cool off with her baby.

Perez moved to Arizona from Florida four years ago, so, “I know heat,” she said. But comparing the two, she said, “I hate the dryness. It feels like the air gets sucked out of you.”

“If we can help it, we stay inside,” Perez said. “It’s lots of popsicles, smoothies, Gatorade, water.”

Tucked in the back of Burton Barr, away from the front entrance, the city set up a 24/7 heat respite center mostly occupied by people experiencing homelessness. Since the city’s five extended-hour and overnight heat relief centers opened May 1, there have been 14,000 visitations, according to data Phoenix published Friday.

Perez said she thought the respite center may helped clear out the entrance of the library. Last year, she said, she regularly saw police officers approaching people for loitering near the front door. This year, it hasn’t been like that.

— Taylor Seely

10:30 a.m., 15th Avenue north of Camelback Road, Phoenix: 97 degrees

Benton Gilder, 34, woke up early to catch the city bus and be at the front door of the Arizona Recreation Center for the Handicapped by 7:50 a.m. He said the summer heat of the Valley is brutal, but in the morning period, when it is still in the 90s, it can be a little more bearable for him.

“Once it hits the triple digits in the evening, I’ll tell my mom to pick me up,” Gilder said.

ARCH, as the recreation center is called, offers a wide range of programs to people of all ages with developmental and physical disabilities. Gilder’s diagnosis consists of attention deficit and a non-specified developmental delay. He’s been going to ARCH since 2012. He said he enjoys it a lot.

Gilder is part of ARCH’s drop-in program, which allows members to visit the center earlier than its regular opening time of 11 a.m.

“We have drop-in staff earlier so that those members that are out on the city bus have a place to come early,” said Grace Jones, adult services coordinator at ARCH. “It would be way too hot for them to be taking the city bus at 10:45 to get here on time.”

During this time of year, ARCH moves all physical activity indoors and tries to keep its members informed about the importance of hydration. They also plan trips with their members to Northern Arizona, which Gilder said was his favorite thing about ARCH. Recently, they went fishing in Prescott. “It was fun,” he said.

Gilder has a few different tactics to deal with the heat.

At ARCH, he's very physically active, and his clothes get drenched in sweat, he said, so he always makes sure to pack an extra outfit in his bag to change into after intense activity.

“I am bald, so I constantly wear a hat, too. I’ll try to stay inside as much as possible,” Gilder said. “At home, I’ll take the hose and just splash water on me.”

— Paula Soria

10 a.m., McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Scottsdale: 97 degrees

Scottsdale Fire officials received reports of 13 lost hikers at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve around 10 a.m., with a report of a 10-year-old girl experiencing heat exhaustion.

The group was having a family reunion and had started out at about 7:30 a.m. They became lost on the trail and started running low on water.

Rescue crews located the family about two miles from the Gateway Trailhead, resting in the shade of a tree in a wash near the trail.

Three children and one adult were transported off of a hiking trail and treated for heat exhaustion. The rest of the family was able to walk back to the trailhead with the support of rescue crews.

— Kira Caspers

How schools deal with heat, recess during summer months

Summer vacation for the Valley’s public schools ends in either July or August, the hottest point of the year, making the early weeks of school particularly challenging for teachers and staff as they welcome hundreds of students coping with the heat.

One universal tool that schools use to combat heat-related issues is air conditioning. State codes require all school facilities to have “an HVAC or other system capable of maintaining a temperature between 68 and 82 in the classrooms, so no public school kids should have to contend with extreme heat indoors.

Other strategies schools use, like how they deal with recess for younger children during the hot months, change on a “day-to-day” basis, according to Scottsdale Unified School District spokesperson Kristine Harrington.

There are certain recommendations from state agencies like the Arizona Department of Health Services that schools generally follow, such as keeping kids indoors when the heat index hits 105.

But that’s ultimately up to the administrators, according to Paradise Valley Unified School District spokesperson Sarah Hackett. The decision is often left to the discretion of principals "to make some of those calls, whether it's heat advisory or rainy day schedule," she said.

Hackett said that factors ranging from whether a playground had shaded structures to Maricopa County heat advisories inform choices on any given day.

“When (administrators) are looking at the extreme heat, there are oftentimes (decisions) made based on the temperatures. They can make the decision of, ‘We're going to stay indoors today and do an inside recess.’ But schools do have that choice,” she said.

— Sam Kmack

9:50 a.m., Main Street and Stapley Drive, Mesa: 95 degrees

Outside the Resurrection Street Ministry Day Respite Center in Mesa, people lined up, eager to escape the heat.

Inside, where the temperature was a cool 77 degrees, a team of about 10 staff members prepared to offer food, water, laundry services, hygiene supplies, rest and relief from the scorching weather.

At 10 a.m., the doors opened. People and their pets entered, stowed their backpacks in lockers and sought refreshments, snacks, meals, cots and a chance to watch TV.

At 10:10 a.m., Executive Director Bill Berry arrived to applause and cheers. Smiling, he greeted volunteers and chatted with several of them.

"In 1984, I was homeless on the streets, and I'm also a former addict," said Berry. "So I can relate to pretty much anything that's out there. And that's what drove me to begin the ministry in 1991."

Resurrection Street Ministry has run the heat relief program since 2009. They also operate a food bank, assist veterans and families with housing and furniture, and provide clothing through their thrift store.

Mark Dye, who began collaborating with the ministry in 2020 by donating care bags to unhoused people, has helped grow and enhance the heat relief program.

Berry and Dye emphasized the need for more volunteers. "Whether it be for lunch, mentoring or cleaning," Berry said.

"I would love to see more community involvement," Dye said. "If restaurant owners or food truck operators could donate food, that would be fantastic. There are even tax breaks for that."

"We are volunteering, but we are also giving back to the community," Dye said.

— Trilce Estrada Olvera

9:30 a.m., preparing to tube the Salt River: 92 degrees

Like it does for most Valley residents, the Salt River beckoned Gustavo Fernandez and his cousins.

The cool, flowing water offered them a brief reprieve from another scorcher in the Valley on Friday morning.

Phoenix was expected to see a high of 108 degrees. As Fernandez’s family arrived in a parking lot for tubing the river, it was 91 and partly cloudy. But the 45% humidity made it feel more like 94.

“I know we complain about the heat being too much, but it also feels nice when you're out in the breeze and you're floating on a tube,” said the Scottsdale resident, 32, as the family scrambled to get their belongings ready for the morning’s outing.

The family typically gets everything together last minute, he said, but they never forget to pack their cooler with the essentials: water and beer. As a traditional Mexican family, he said, there's also one other important item to pack.

“We be bringing that barbecue, that carne asada,” he said.

As they gathered in line with the dozens of other river-goers to catch the bus, the gravel on which they stood and stacked their inflatable tubes was a baking 124 degrees. Aboard the 10-minute bus to the river, though, the air conditioning kept everyone cool at 75.

That was still no match for what the river had to offer, which was a chill 65 degrees.

“It's good to be out here,” Fernandez said. “And just flow on the river, enjoy the sun a little bit.”

— Shawn Raymundo

Where in Arizona are you most likely to end up in the ER for heat illness?

Even though Maricopa County accounts for the highest number of heat-related illnesses due to its larger share of Arizona's population, the rate of heat illnesses as a share of all emergency department visits is higher in La Paz County.

— Republic staff

7:30 a.m., south Phoenix: 105 degrees inside a tent

In south Phoenix on Thursday night, Mike Ortiz camped out for the night at around 10 p.m. The ground temperature was 87 degrees. Inside his tent, it was cooler than 77, and the rain and wind offered a break .

By 7:30 a.m. Friday, Ortiz's tent was already 105 degrees inside, and he was on the move, getting some of his gear together.

— Miguel Torres

7:09 a.m., Camelback Mountain: 84 degrees

The sun’s light was just beginning to peek over Camelback Mountain a few minutes after 7 a.m. as early morning hikers were making their way back to their cars.

Ed Concepcion, in town from Hawaii for a work conference, started his hike at 5 a.m. to avoid the heat. He wasn’t the first one there.

“The parking lot was pretty much three-fourths full,” he said.

Several runners and hikers made their way up and down the trail in the dim morning light.

Concepcion started the hike when the heat was in the high 70s and low 80s. He said he could feel the temperature increase as he ascended and as the sun rose higher in the 45 minutes it took him to climb the mountain.

“You can feel the sun just beating on you as you go up,” Concepcion said. “This is definitely a challenging trail. A lot of scrambling on rocks.”

— Jack Armstrong

7 a.m., Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport: 82 degrees

Friday's weather is forecast to once again be sunny and hot, with a high temperature near 109.

The heat index value , which represents how hot the air feels by taking into account relative humidity, could go as high as 112, according to the National Weather Service.

In the evening, there's a 30% chance of rain and thunderstorms, primarily before 9 p.m.

Overnight, there will be partly cloudy skies and a low of about 88.

— Republic staff

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Coping with Phoenix's extreme heat: Ice distributed to families without power