By Jordan Robertson
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — A scorching heat wave threatened to push California into a power emergency Monday, as state authorities investigated at least four heat-related deaths in the past week.
Power demand was projected to reach an all-time high and prompt some voluntary blackouts, according to the Independent System Operator, California’s power grid manager.
Californians have been cranking up their air conditioners in the triple-digit temperatures, which prompted the National Weather Service to issue excessive heat watches through parts of Southern California and lighter heat advisories in most of the state.
On Sunday, more than 100 patients were evacuated from the Beverly Healthcare Center in Stockton, where temperatures reached 115 (46 Celsius) degrees, after the nursing home’s air conditioning gave out.
Two patients were hospitalized with heat-related stress — one died, and the other was in critical condition, said police spokesman Pete Smith. The evacuated were taken to hospitals and care centers from Sacramento to Modesto.
Investigators were looking into possible criminal charges, although it was too early to tell whether the facility’s operators were negligent, Smith said.
The nursing home’s phone was busy and a call to Beverly Healthcare’s corporate headquarters in Fort Smith, Arkansas, was not returned Sunday.
Another Central Valley nursing home, Woodland Skilled Nursing Facility, voluntarily evacuated its residents when managers realized its air conditioning system was not operating at peak capacity, according to the state Department of Health Services. No injuries were reported there.
In Modesto, a patient at Doctors Medical Center died Saturday of heart failure apparently caused by the heat after being admitted with a 106-degree (41 Celsius) temperature, hospital officials said.
Two others were hospitalized with 108-degree (42 Celsius) temperatures, including one who remained in critical condition Sunday. Hospital officials declined to release additional details.
In Kern County, authorities were investigating four possible heat-related deaths, including two from the past week.
Bakersfield gardener Joaquin Ramirez, 38, may have died of heat stroke after collapsing on the job late Wednesday. And on Thursday, a woman, whose name was not released, was found dead along a bike path in Ridgecrest.
The coroner’s office also was looking into two deaths from mid-July — one of a man whose body was found near an abandoned vehicle near Bakersfield, and one of a man found dead with two empty water bottles on the Pacific Coast Trail near the Tehachapi Pass.
Neither have been publicly identified, and the causes of death may not be known for several weeks, said John Rensselaer, Kern County’s supervising deputy coroner.
Power companies scrambled to restore electricity to 144,000 California customers still without power early Monday, down from a high of 180,000 customers affected over the weekend.
In Arizona, heat is believed to have contributed to the deaths of two transient men in Phoenix over the weekend. One, believed to be in his 50s, died Sunday, and another, a 28-year-old man, died Saturday.