MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ — New records show that 290 people died from the heat in the month of July alone, according to preliminary data from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office.
The medical examiner’s office released new data this week that shows how deadly the month of July was as we saw record temperatures. The data shows that on July 20th, when temperatures reached 119º, 23 people likely died on that day alone.
ABC15 spoke with Dr. Jeff Johnston earlier this month about the medical examiner’s office seeing a surge in deaths. As the chief medical examiner for a decade, he sees a pattern to when people are more vulnerable to the summer heat: Temperatures that are above 110º on consecutive days. The consistent, high heat doesn’t give people a chance for recovery.
An increase in people experiencing homelessness also plays a role, he said. Preliminary data shows that about 60% of the potential heat-related deaths still under investigation seem to be people experiencing homelessness, he said.
RELATED: Has the surge in deaths subsided?
Maricopa County has seen an increase in heat-associated deaths every year since 2014. Last year, 425 people died, a 25% increase over the previous year.
It’s not just people dying outdoors but people dying indoors too as preliminary estimates show that 107 people died inside a residence in July.
Along with people dying inside a residence some other common locations we found in the month of July were:
- 23 people died on a sidewalk
- 18 people died at a parking lot
- 11 on the street
- Five people died at bus stops
When you look through the data over the years it shows how deaths are much higher this July.
- July 2020: 155 people died
- July 2021: 107 people died
- July 2022: 242 people died
- July 2023: Preliminary data shows 290 people died
A spokesperson for Maricopa County said Friday that they did not have to use the refrigerated coolers they brought in for additional capacity last month. They add that they will be removing them from their property soon.
