Cooling centers and hydration stations are lifesavers for Buckeye residents that do not have immediate access to water or air conditioning.
Just four months ago, Glennceria “Glenny” Lyles, 64, found herself lying on the floor of her empty apartment with no food or water, with severe muscle cramps from dehydration.
Lyles spent her days calling different services looking for anyone to help. When it got dark, she said she kept “waking up in the middle of the night crying.”
She is not sure how her case made its way to staff at the city of Buckeye’s Social Services department but remembers when Human Services Manager Krystian Zebrowski showed up at her door with two cases of water.
“He came over and saved me,” Lyles said. “I hugged him, I was crying, he was showing me a blessing. He was literally my knight in shining armor.”
Lyles said Zebrowki told her that the Buckeye Senior Center, the local hydration station, was just a block away from her apartment. She has been there nearly every day since.
“It was beautiful to have a place to cool down and that keeps you hydrated,” she said.
This year, the Buckeye Senior Center handed out 3,000 bottles of water to help combat the triple-digit temperature that come with Arizona summers. According to a statement, peak "heat relief season" is between May 1 and Sept. 30.
This is the first year the city has tracked how many bottles of water were distributed, said Buckeye Deputy Director of Communications John O’Halloran, adding that water will remain available for those that need it even after the season is considered over.
“The end of the season means we typically see a drop off in need for this service around this time of year but if anyone needs water or a place to cool down the locations are still available during their regular operating hours,” O’Halloran said.
While the senior center is the only city-run hydration station, both the Downtown Library, at 310 6th St., and the Coyote Branch library, at 21699 W Yuma Rd, are cooling centers that provide a place to cool down, and to refill water bottles.
During the summer, both the cooling centers and hydration stations gave out 100 hydration kits, which included cooling towels, sunscreen, Band-Aids, sunglasses and ChapStick.
“While foot traffic wasn't tracked, the majority of those who benefited from these services were seniors, students and Valley Metro users, given the proximity of the Senior Center to a local bus stop,” according to a city statement.
The Buckeye Family Resource Center, at 210 S 6th St., also worked as a non-city hydration station.
“We do provide water for anybody that’s thirsty,” said Parent Awareness and Outreach Specialist Sandra Dubon, estimating the facility handed out about five bottles daily this summer.
Lyle added that she believes having several places to get water or to cool down in town is a necessity.
“It is very important to have a place that with, or without a vehicle, you can come to just to cool down,” Lyles said.
County deaths by the numbers
Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed 313 people in the county have died of heat-related illnesses as of Oct. 5. Heat was the cause of 180 of those deaths, and contributed to the other 133.
Nearly half (46%) of those confirmed heat-related deaths were unhoused people, according to county officials. Drug use played a factor in 55% of them, while alcohol use played a face in 12% of them.
Of those 313 confirmed cases, one person died outdoors in the city of Buckeye. There are still 353 county deaths under investigation with locations unreleased.
Last year, six Buckeye deaths were heat-related. Three people died inside a building, and three died outside.
