By June this year, more than 1.5 billion people had spent a day in life-threatening temperatures above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, according to [an analysis by The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/heat-index-temperatures-global-cities/). In Phoenix, Arizona, where almost 400 people died from heat exposure last year—and where falling on the pavement can leave a third-degree burn—the question isn’t whether this summer’s heat will kill people, it’s how many.
The answer hinges, in part, on a small team the city created in 2021 to deliver aid during heat emergencies: handing out supplies, opening relief centers, and even driving a bus to bring cool air to where it’s most needed. The team is also trying to make Phoenix cooler over the long haul by finding space for [shade trees](https://www.wired.com/story/city-trees-save-lives/)—which is a major challenge in the city center. As the adage goes, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. So in the meantime, there’s triage.
A member of the city’s Heat Response and Mitigation Office tells WIRED what it’s like to go out on the streets day after day in temperatures that reach 110 degrees or higher in our story: [https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/](https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/)
When you’re sending triage teams out to rescue people where it’s too hot to be alive, you should be over in collapse.
Do people who choose to live in places like AZ and TX not realize that the only thing that separates life and death is the AC?
“This city should not exist. It is a monument to man’s arrogance.” – Peggy Hill
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By Camille Bromley
By June this year, more than 1.5 billion people had spent a day in life-threatening temperatures above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, according to [an analysis by The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/heat-index-temperatures-global-cities/). In Phoenix, Arizona, where almost 400 people died from heat exposure last year—and where falling on the pavement can leave a third-degree burn—the question isn’t whether this summer’s heat will kill people, it’s how many.
The answer hinges, in part, on a small team the city created in 2021 to deliver aid during heat emergencies: handing out supplies, opening relief centers, and even driving a bus to bring cool air to where it’s most needed. The team is also trying to make Phoenix cooler over the long haul by finding space for [shade trees](https://www.wired.com/story/city-trees-save-lives/)—which is a major challenge in the city center. As the adage goes, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. So in the meantime, there’s triage.
A member of the city’s Heat Response and Mitigation Office tells WIRED what it’s like to go out on the streets day after day in temperatures that reach 110 degrees or higher in our story: [https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/](https://www.wired.com/story/i-will-save-you-from-the-heat/)
When you’re sending triage teams out to rescue people where it’s too hot to be alive, you should be over in collapse.
Do people who choose to live in places like AZ and TX not realize that the only thing that separates life and death is the AC?
“This city should not exist. It is a monument to man’s arrogance.”
– Peggy Hill