By Barbara Anderson
Fresno Bee (California)
Copyright 2006 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
Coroners in the central San Joaquin Valley continued to investigate possible heat-related deaths on Tuesday, as an oppressive six-day heat wave overwhelmed hospitals with the ill and sent people to air-conditioned community centers for relief from triple-digit temperatures.
Authorities said as many as 14 deaths in Fresno County — including a mother and son who died together — may be heat-related, and at least one Madera County death was attributed to the heat. Hot weather was being investigated as a possible cause of another death in Kings County.
Statewide, the suspected death toll from the heat reached 56 on Tuesday, but the number included only 10 death investigations in Fresno County.
Fresno’s high Tuesday was 113 degrees, a record for July 25. And Tuesday’s overnight low of 82 degrees broke the record of 81 degrees set in 1906.
Today, temperatures in Fresno are expected to reach 110 degrees.
And it will be more of the same for Thursday, said David Specter, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Hanford.
But relief is in sight. Friday, temperatures should dip and may reach near-normal levels by Monday, with a high that day predicted to be 98 degrees.
The unrelenting heat in the Valley has kept law enforcement busy. Between Friday and Monday, Fresno County coroner’s deputies investigated 29 deaths — not all heat-related. But Fresno County Coroner Loralee Cervantes confirmed three deaths as primarily heat-related and said 11 other deaths could be heat-caused.
Rodolfo Valladares, 38, a field worker, was among those whose deaths were related to heat, she said. Valladares died Tuesday at University Medical Center.
Cervantes did not know whether Valladares was brought to the hospital by ambulance or where he was when he collapsed. His county of residence also was unknown, she said.
On Tuesday, Fresno fire officials said heat may have contributed to the deaths of a mother and son found in their home in central Fresno about 9:30 a.m.
The air conditioner was turned off in the La Salle Street house occupied by the woman, who was in her 80s, and the man in his 50s, said Fire Department spokesman Ken Shockley. The temperature inside the home was 100 degrees, he said.
Neighbor Lisa Ruiz said she never heard the air conditioner being used next door.
Ruiz said the elderly woman had been ill and her son took care of her.
“It’s real sad for me because I saw them every day,” she said.
Kings County authorities were investigating a recent death as a possible heat-related fatality. Kings County Assistant Sheriff Randy Montejano said an autopsy Tuesday on an elderly woman could not confirm whether her death was heat-related, and more tests were needed.
Madera Community Hospital reported one heat-related death Sunday.
Hospital staff revived a 41-year-old man, but he died later in the intensive-care unit, said Robert Toman, clinical director of emergency services.
Mike Molsbergen, chief deputy coroner for Madera County, said the man was found late Saturday near the Fresno River walkway and Lake Street in Madera. Identification of the man was pending, as was notification of his family, he said.
The man had a temperature of 106.5 degrees when he was picked up by ambulance, Molsbergen said. He also had a blood alcohol level of 0.26. A level of 0.08 is considered legally drunk in California.
“Alcohol intoxication and heat just do not go together,” Molsbergen said.
Ambulance drivers scrambled in the heat to keep up with calls.
Patients overwhelmed University Medical Center on Monday.
The hospital was at capacity between 7 and 9 p.m. and could not accept ambulances other than those with trauma patients, said Daniel Lynch, director of emergency medical services for Fresno County.
“They were on the brink of actually closing their hospital to the public totally, and what we did was step in and ask if they could close them to patients from the medical side and keep them open to trauma,” Lynch said.
Sunday and Monday were the busiest days on record for emergency ambulance responses, said Todd Valeri, general manager at American Ambulance.
On an average day, drivers respond to 237 calls, Valeri said. But on Sunday, ambulance drivers responded 308 times and 329 on Monday.
It wasn’t known whether all the ambulance calls were heat-related, but 25 patients complained of heat-related illnesses Monday, he said.
City officials urged residents to take advantage of community centers open to the public. And Fresno Area Express buses were sent to Caruthers, Biola, Five Points, Easton and Laton for people to sit in and cool off.
Few, if any, residents took advantage of the mobile shelters, however. Mike Yager, who was walking near the bus on Oak and Tahoe avenues, said he didn’t know the bus was a cooling center.
The unmarked buses should have signs identifying them as cooling centers and fliers should be circulated in the community to get the word out, Yager said.
Clovis Unified opened Dry Creek Elementary, Kastner Intermediate, Jefferson Elementary and Temperance-Kutner Elementary to the public as shelters Tuesday. The schools will remain open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day through Friday.
Mary Pasos, 60, and her family took advantage of the air conditioning at the Ted C. Wills Community Center in Fresno on Tuesday.
With the evaporative cooler in their Tower District home out of action, the air was stifling, Pasos said. “My house is like an oven, it’s so hot.”
Health officials said the high temperatures are especially a concern for people with chronic health problems, such as lung and heart disease and diabetes.
Medications for mental illness, as well as diuretics for heart disease can affect how the body reacts to heat, said Dr. Kenneth Bird, deputy health officer for Fresno County.
The combination of hot air and smog is dangerous for people with asthma, said Dr. A.M. Aminian, a Fresno allergist.
High temperatures dry air passages, he said. As people lose moisture in their nose, throat and lungs, the mucus becomes dry and hardened and makes breathing difficult.
People with asthma should avoid being outdoors during peak smog times, between noon and 6 p.m., Aminian said. And they should drink plenty of water.
Veterinarians warned dog owners to keep their pets cool.
“We’ve probably had seven or eight deaths in the last seven or eight days — about one a day,” said Kevin Lazarcheff, a veterinarian at Veterinary Emergency Services Inc., in Fresno.
“The best thing to do is to keep them where you are: inside with the air conditioning,” he said. “It’s just common sense. If it’s too hot for you, it’s too hot for them.”
Staff writers Sarah Jimenez and Erik Lacayo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.