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At the hottest part of the day, Sam Gomez gets to work. He packs an 18-gallon, red bucket in the backseat of his silver hybrid car and stacks of black umbrellas adorned with the words “South Phoenix Love.”
He sets off on Central Avenue watching for people walking or waiting at temporary bus stops along the snaking line of cars navigating the maze of light-rail construction.
Each interaction starts off the same: “Hey brother (or hey ma’am), do you want some water?”
And suddenly, the mood changes. The burden of walking in the heat that crumpled their faces seems to vanish, lost to toothy smiles and wide, shining eyes. Some say thank you and others pour their hearts out, shake Gomez’s hand and share their names.
Gomez said he sees a lot of stress every day from people ducking under trees then running out to the temporary stop when the bus comes or people running through traffic to avoid having to walk even further under the intense sun to a crosswalk.
But Gomez doesn’t want to be a hero. This is something that neighbors do.
“It’s really cool to see and feel the energy shift when people are being looked out for or somebody’s thinking about them,” he said.
‘We see it every day’
There was a heat advisory in effect on Aug. 26 when Gomez was on “heat patrol,” as he calls it. He operated out of Fast and Friendly Car Wash on Central Avenue, where light-rail construction has limited the street to one lane on either side, where he left chilled water and umbrellas for people who needed reprieve from the heat.
In south Phoenix, it can get up to 13 degrees hotter than the surrounding areas due to decades of underinvestment and a lack of shade cover, green spaces like parks and cooling infrastructure like public pools or splash pads.
Gomez worries that the light-rail construction, which will continue for another three years, is worsening heat inequities and affecting the quality of life of residents – from the stress of construction to the strain on small businesses.
He started the heat patrol when he noticed some shaded bus stops along Central Avenue were removed for construction. The effort resulted in dozens of posts supporting the effort and speaking out on the need for shade.
“It’s starting to bring in the conversation that’s there, but we’re not really talking about it,” Gomez said. “We see it every day, we deal with it every day, but we’re not actually dealing with it in a bigger conversation with the community and the city and the contractor.”
So far, three of the 24 covered bus stops on Central Avenue have been removed. The remainder will be removed progressively as construction goes on. Valley Metro advised its riders to familiarize themselves with their heat-relief messaging and use the Valley Metro app to check bus arrival times to limit time standing outside. The construction contractor for the south-central light rail project, Kiewit, purchased the umbrellas he’s distributing.
Valley Metro said in a statement that shade infrastructure will be improved once the project is complete.
“The corridor’s shade and cooling effect will be vastly enhanced,” wrote Hillary Foose, the agency’s communications director. “All bus stops will have shade structures (vs. the just under 50% now). And the light rail project will provide a 43% increase in shade trees across the entire corridor, with trees being added to the sidewalk areas.”
Right now, 65% of the approximately 4,000 bus stops in Phoenix have shade covering, with more to be added with the support of the T2050 program, said Phoenix Public Transit Department spokeswoman Brenda Yáñez. Voters in 2015 approved an expansion of a voter-approved tax that funded public transportation. The plan takes a more comprehensive approach to transportation and includes street maintenance, bicycle lanes and sidewalks.
City looks to the future
Phoenix’s budget for the 2022 fiscal year includes $475,000 for the creation of the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation that will work to make communities cooler and keep Phoenix from getting hotter. The office would work with city agencies to implement plans that would address extreme heat.
The city is currently discussing how the office would bring in heat relief infrastructure equitably by analyzing data about where heat crisis and deaths occur most and where shade structures are lacking.
The budget also includes funding for an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion that would help with efforts to equitably distribute resources and bring in voices from all communities.
“We are reaching into the communities – be it through partnerships or block workshops – and making sure the resources get to the people who need it most,” Deputy City Manager Karen Peters said.
Last year, 323 people died of heat-related causes in Maricopa County. Fifty-three people died in just one week this year from June 12-19 when temperatures hit 118 degrees. Peters warned not to take the heat lightly because of how commonplace it is.
“It’s so important for people to be educated about heat,” she said. “Because it’s something people don’t always think about. It’s not like a hurricane; it’s invisible.”
Phoenix recently closed its comment period for its Climate Action Plan, which details initiatives like the Tree and Shade Master Plan. The plan promises to build 30 “cool corridors” in underserved communities by 2050, or milelong stretches of up to 200 trees and other shade structures.
Environmental organizations criticized the way the city handled the comment period and said that communities like south Phoenix, where more than 60% of the population is Latino, were left out due to unsatisfactory outreach efforts and the Spanish version not being released simultaneously with the English version.
The city promised that its efforts to engage all communities would improve as the plan continues to evolve. Peters said Phoenix is open to hearing suggestions from residents and would seek comments from them as new initiatives come up. The city will seek comments on the climate plan again when it is revised in 18 to 24 months.
Gomez envisions his heat patrol expanding as a collection of vans that patrol the city, especially in areas lacking shade, to help people out in the heat. He sees it as a way create part-time jobs and redirect money to preventing heat-related deaths. While Valley Metro was responsive to his concerns, he wants the heat patrol to become a catalyst for investment in permanent solutions like trees and green spaces.
“We should have something like this, and it does make sense, and it should be invested in,” Gomez said. “It doesn’t sound like, ‘How does this work?’ It does work, because we might be able to do a heat relief here and there, but we’re talking about every day. It’s like having the ambulance and the fire station only work on Tuesdays and Fridays. But what about the fires on Saturdays and Sundays?”
Need relief from the heat?
The Maricopa Association of Governments runs the Heat Relief Network, a collection of hydration and heat refuge centers around the Valley to prevent heat-related deaths.
A map of these cooling stations can be found at phoenix.gov/heat. The website includes information about heat safety and resources to help renters who are having issues getting their air conditioners fixed. Under Phoenix’s cooling ordinance, all inhabitable rooms in all rental units must have cooling to a temperature of no greater than 86 degrees if cooled by evaporative cooling and no greater than 82 degrees if cooled by air conditioning.
Those who think they may be experiencing a heat-related emergency should call 911.
Are you a resident of south Phoenix who has been affected by extreme heat? We want to talk to you! Reach reporter Megan Taros by phone at 602-904-3794, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @megataros. Her coverage is supported by Report for America and a grant from the Vitalyst Health Foundation.
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