PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 Homeless in America\u2019s hottest big metro, Stefon James Dewitt Livengood was laid out for days inside his makeshift dwelling, struggling to breath, nauseous and vomiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every day this month, temperatures have soared past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Livengood said he stopped briefly at a free clinic that took his blood pressure and declared it acceptable. But he received no other medical help for his apparent heat exhaustion, or for the peeling skin on his arms he believes was caused by sun exposure. He is careful when he walks through the sprawling tent city, cognizant that if he falls, the simmering black asphalt could seriously burn his skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going outside, let somebody know where you\u2019re going so you can be tracked so you don\u2019t pass out out there,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you fall out in the heat, you don\u2019t want a third degree burn from the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 38-year-old sleeps in a structure cobbled together with a frame of scavenged wood and metal covered by blue vinyl tarp. The space inside is large enough to stand up and walk around in and features an old recliner and a bicycle Livengood uses less now that he spends more time inside with the sides of his dwelling open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSome of the friends that I\u2019ve made down here, they come check on me if they don\u2019t see me moving around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FILE – People, who are homeless, try to cool down with chilled water outside the Justa Center, a day center for homeless people 55 years and older, July 14, 2023, in downtown Phoenix. Homeless people are among the people most likely to die in the extreme heat in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Matt York, File)
People, who are homeless, try to cool down with chilled water outside the Justa Center, a day center for homeless people 55 years and older, July 14, 2023, in downtown Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Matt York)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Homeless people are among those most likely to die in the extreme heat in metro Phoenix. The city is seeing its longest run of consecutive days of 110 Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) ever recorded, clocking 28 in a row as of Thursday, even as the first monsoon storm of the season brought some overnight relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has been a scary situation this year and it\u2019s especially scary for our homeless population,\u201d said Dr. Geoff Comp, an emergency room physician for Valleywise Health in central Phoenix. \u201cThey have a more constant exposure to the heat than most of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People living outside are also vulnerable to surface burns from contact with hot metal, concrete or asphalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n