TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson is gearing up for summer heat with a community-wide safety push.
The city, the Pima County Health Department and the American Red Cross hosted a canvassing event in midtown Friday morning to share heat safety tips and check on neighbors ahead of extreme temperatures.
Volunteers headed into neighborhoods near the Donna Liggins Recreation Center to help people stay safe in the heat.
"Letting people know that there are resources and that there are people here to help them. That’s really at the core of this," said Monique Vallery, interim executive director of the American Red Cross-Southern Arizona Chapter.
Vallery tells me many people do not realize help is right in their own neighborhood, from cooling centers to free safety resources.
"Especially vulnerable populations, right, they’re not as aware of things that they can access," Vallery said.
The outreach comes as heat arrives earlier each year, something longtime Arizonans are noticing.
"We thought we were already pre-planned for all of this, and we've just seen such unseasonable hot weather. Even as a Tucsonan, it's startling. And when you think you've drank enough water, you haven’t," Vallery said.
Mayor Regina Romero says the effort is based on data showing where heat-related emergencies are happening most.
"Heat kills more people than hurricanes and other natural catastrophes combined every year. It's the silent killer, and one of the things that we wanted to do is bring down the number of heat-related deaths in our community," Romero said.
According to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, there were 36 heat-caused deaths in 2025. That is compared to 78 heat-caused deaths in 2024 and 92 in 2023.
"The goal is to prevent deaths. This is the third year we're doing this, and we're already seeing the number of deaths in Pima County and the City of Tucson go down," Romero said.
The heat canvassing effort runs through late April across Tucson.
A full list of cooling centers and heat safety resources are here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
