TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Heat has killed more people in Pima County this year. Heat killed 17 people in Pima County and most were not living their lives on the street.
Anyone who’s lived in Arizona who awhile understands just how hot it can be. But you still may not appreciate that the heat can be enough to kill you even in your own home.
This year has been hotter, drier, and deadlier than the year before.
From January through July 14 of this year, Pima County recorded 17 heat related deaths, compared to seven heat deaths for all of 2021. Those numbers do not include migrants who died in the desert.
It’s easy to assume homeless people account for most of the deaths. But only one of the recent Pima County heat deaths was a homeless person.
Many of the deaths were people in homes—but they were homes without adequate cooling.
“When an individual is exposed to prolonged heat like this, the body shuts down.”
Tucson Fire Captain Josh Campbell has been to plenty of emergency calls where heat brought someone near death—or killed them.
He says often people are unwilling to call for help, or they don’t realize they’re slipping into danger.
“A lot of people don't reach out often until it's too late or a neighbor or family comes to check on them and notices the condition that they're in and the extreme heat that they're living in, and then they make the call to us.”
Older people may have health problems that make them more vulnerable to heat.
Pima Council On Aging CEO W. Mark Clark says, “Certainly, income can be a factor. People may be living in older homes. So we certainly talked to a good number of people who are living in homes that have older swamp coolers, evaporative coolers, and so that I think could be a challenge.”
There are home repair programs that can fix cooling for low income people but there’s usually a long waiting list.
Clark says one of the best defenses is for neighbors to know—and look out for each other so they can protect someone at risk from the heat.
Pima County lists 15 cooling centers where people can get a break from the heat but Mark Clark says older people may have trouble getting to one, or even going online to learn where they are.
Pima County Health Department has a page at this link with advice on how to recognize and cope with heat illness, including a checklist for caretakers.
Pima Council on Aging offers a range of resources to help older people.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
