Phoenix Works to ID Victims of Heat Wave (AP)

[Up2Late]

Jul 24, 3:31 AM EDT

Phoenix Works to ID Victims of Heat Wave

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA
AP National Writer

PHOENIX (AP) -- In the span of a week, in the throes of a record heat wave, 14 transients have perished on the streets of metropolitan Phoenix. They lived in obscurity, and many of them died the same way - anonymous, ignored, alone. Their bodies were found crumpled on sidewalks near strip malls or in the shadow of downtown skyscrapers. Some were discovered only after strangers stumbled upon them and dialed 911.

Now, as Salvation Army volunteers pass out water and social workers coax vagabonds into shelters, the city is grappling with another challenge: How to put a name to the nameless, find their families and bury the dead.

Almost every day, the lady with the chestnut hair and slight smile stopped by the tire shop to ask for a drink. Jose Perez would take a break from his work to offer a cup of water or whatever he had on hand. She was 50ish, he guessed, and painfully skinny. But friendly, too. She once mentioned having kids, though Perez had no idea how many or where. She lived with a man under a plywood shelter on the other side of a chain-link fence behind the store.

Perez last saw her a week ago Sunday, when the mercury hit 116 degrees. She lay on a mound of dirt outside the shelter as paramedics worked to revive her. The skinny lady with the smile died right before his eyes. "Scary," the 20-year-old says. Perez never even knew her name.

<http://staging.hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DEATH_ON_THE_STREETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-07-24-03-31-16>
(more at link above)

[Wetzelbill]

1. that's rugged

I haven't been outside all week hardly at all it's been so hot.

[Up2Late]

3. The last time I went to Arizona, it was 104 in Phoenix,

do you folks REALLY feel the difference between 104 and 114? Or when they say things like, "good thing you got here on a Cool day" or "It's a 'Dry Heat'" just something you say to visitors to see their reaction?

[Wetzelbill]

4. hell, I'm a Montanan just down here for school

I don't get it all either. I will say you can tell a big difference between 100 and 90 though. 90 doesn't seem bad at all.

[fasttense]

2. The heat wave has made and broken so many records the last four

days it is amazing. I read an article that apples on the trees in Ireland were cooking. Of course the press doesn't even bring up global warming in their frequent reports about the heat. Of course there is no global warming, there is no global warming...opps, I got to go pick my tomatoes before they start cooking.