City of Phoenix officials are celebrating early data that shows significant improvements in heat-related deaths in the county while also calling on other levels of government to do more on heat mitigation.
Preliminary data from Maricopa County shows 333 confirmed heat-related deaths so far this year with another 152 under investigation. That is a stark difference from the 608 heat-related deaths in 2024. It would also mark the second straight year of improvement — 2023 had 645 heat-related deaths — which has not happened in the county since 2013-14.
At a news conference on Friday, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said that while the numbers are an improvement, “one death is too many.”
