Officials in Arizona’s largest county are investigating 53 suspected heat deaths during a weeklong hot spell earlier this month.
Recently released Maricopa County data shows 53 deaths occurred during the week of June 12th through the 19th, which coincided with a heat wave that pushed temperatures up to 118. Those 53 deaths have been added to another 20 earlier this year that are suspected of being heat related for a total of 73 under investigation. So far this year, just three deaths in the county of 4.6 million people have been confirmed as heat related. There were 323 last year.