Phoenix officials launch Heat Awareness Week, announce expanded cooling services and housing referrals

Dave Hondula, director of the city—s Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, opened a Heat Awareness Week event in Phoenix on the start of the city—s operational heat period and invited the public to new cooling resources and outreach. "We're here to commemorate the launch of Heat Awareness Week in the state of Arizona, as well as the start of our operational period for heat response in the city of Phoenix," Hondula said.

Mayor Gallego said the city has increased services that helped reduce emergency calls during last summer—s record heat. "We saw a 20 percent reduction in heat related calls last summer," the mayor said, and added that "thanks to wrap around services, we saw 900 people placed into housing." Officials said those outcomes came during weeks with unusually high temperatures, including 113 days above 100 degrees and about 70 days above 110 degrees.

Councilwoman Anna Hernandez, who represents the area where the respite center is located, announced an around-the-clock site for her district. "We will have this respite center in District 7 running 24/7," Hernandez said, and urged residents to use public transportation and spread the word.

City staff described a multi-pronged response that pairs extended cooling centers with on-the-ground support teams that refer people to housing, behavioral-health and social services. Officials said the city and its partners operate an extended network of cooling and hydration locations; the transcript notes "a hundred total citywide seats including faith based organizations, nonprofits, and other publicly accessible buildings." Cholla, Harmon and Yucca libraries will offer extended services until 10 p.m., city officials said.

Speakers credited partnership funding and coordination from Maricopa County, utility providers and regional planning partners. Officials explicitly named MAG (Maricopa Association of Governments) and Maricopa County as contributors to the city—s heat-relief portfolio and said they are working with utility partners so relief sites are prioritized during outages.

Organizers also flagged near-term weather risks: a local weather-service representative noted triple-digit forecasts for the upcoming weekend and described the next several days as a moderate heat-risk period. City communications staff offered one-on-one interviews and encouraged the public to share information about cooling sites and services.

This event combined public information about Heat Awareness Week with operational announcements rather than formal votes or ordinance actions.