PHOENIX — Fire crews across the Valley are busier than ever.
With persistent high triple-digit temperatures several fire departments have responded to multiple house fires and heat sickness related calls since the beginning of July.
Capt. Kimberly Ragsdale with the Phoenix Fire Department said within nine days, firefighters have been called out to 27 structure fires. Battling some of these blazes during the hottest parts of the day.
It's not just these types of fires Phoenix crews are responding to.
“We’re noticing more calls for heat-related emergencies,” Ragsdale said.
Calls related to heat stroke and heat exhaustion are also going up. Ragsdale said most of the calls deal with those who are living on the streets and seniors.
Rural Metro Fire which covers unincorporated areas in three different counties is also seeing more of these calls. Spokesperson Shawn Gilleland said Rural Metro also covers lakes and rivers. What their firefighters see deals a lot with people mixing alcohol and being out in the sun for hours.
“They don’t drink enough water and by the end of that say two or three hour float they are really sick,” Gilleland said.
Both departments said these calls are becoming more frequent because of Arizona's rising population growth. With so many new people living here, they aren't prepared for when our summer season starts.
“I would say there are lots of folks who aren’t experienced with the heat. Don’t understand what 110 means,” Gilleland said.
“We’re seeing a lot of individuals that are just not used to our temperatures and don’t know how to prepare for them," Ragsdale said.
They are encouraging people who are either going out to drink plenty of water and try to stay in the shade.
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