Phoenix, Arizona: Where Just The Summertime Pavement Can Kill You

Here in Vermont, it was sunny and 85 degrees when I 
walked barefoot across my asphalt driveway. It felt
pretty hot. Had I done the same thing on asphalt in 
Phoenix, Arizona this month, I would have been
hospitalized with third degree burns. 

 Emergency rooms in Arizona have certainly been busy with victims of the extreme heat out there. They also dealing with injuries that seem unimaginable to us northerners: Third degree burns from pavement, asphalt and car seats.  

You can imagine how dangerous it would be if an elderly person fell on asphalt sidewalk or parking lot this month in Phoenix and couldn't get up. 

Even those who can get up quickly are being seriously injured from burns caused by hot pavement. The Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health is having an unprecedented business summer.

Says CNN, in an interview with Dr. Kevin Foster, director of burn services at Valleywise Health: 

"Every single one of the 45 beds in the burn center is full, he said, and one-third of patients are people who fell and burned themselves on the ground. There are also burn patients in the ICU and about half of those patients are people burned after falls. "

People are burned by hot objects in Arizona every summer, but this year is much worse due to the persistent, extreme heat in Phoenix and elsewhere in the state.  

The heat has been unrelenting, and that takes a cumulative toll. Every day in Phoenix since June 30 has gotten to or above 110 degrees. This Saturday is forecast to be the first day this month below that level, as the high is "only" expected to reach 109 degrees. 

It's been as hot as 119 degrees in Phoenix this month. Under those conditions, pavement temperatures in the sun can go to 180 degrees or more. 

Says CNN:

"It can take only a 'fraction of a second's get a 'pretty deep burn,' Foster said. For people who have been on the pavement for 10 to 20 minutes, 'the skin is completely destroyed and the damage often goes down deep, meaning it is a third-degree burn.'" 

People with third degree burns need multiple surgeries and will spend weeks or months in a hospital.  They usually face years of reconstructive surgery and therapy. So it's a big deal.  

I'd also have to wonder if your shoes would melt if you walked down a Phoenix sidewalk during the afternoon this time of year. 

Nights have failed to get below 90 degrees in Phoenix since July 9.  Hot nights are even worse for those exposed to heat. People without access to air conditioning don't have an opportunity to lower the body temperature, because nights are too warm. 

Of course, pretty much every house and apartment in Phoenix is air conditioned.  A house without air conditioning in Phoenix is like a house in Vermont without heat. 

However, Phoenix, like most major cities, has a sizable homeless population. The estimated number of homeless people in Phoenix is roughly 6,000. There aren't nearly enough indoor shelter beds to accommodate them all. 

Also, some low income people can't afford to get their air conditioning fixed if it breaks. 

Says CBC radio: 

"As of July 15, at least 18 people have died of heat-associated causes in Phoenix in 2023, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. Another 69 suspected heat deaths are under investigation."

That doesn't include the number of heat deaths in other larger communities like Tucson, Arizona, El Paso, Texas or Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Heat is the leading cause of weather related deaths, more than floods, hurricanes, tornadoes or other scary hazards.