Streets of Fire

(original posting July 19, 9:56 PMJackson Weather ExaminerJohnny Kelly)

James Wankul, "I couldn't stand up. The pain was so bad in my feet. Both the right & the left feet had blistered all the way across the balls of my feet."

With intensifying heat across the region this week, it is very important to take all precautions to stay cool and safe, including not walking barefoot on hot pavement as one man did in Arizona this past weekend. Seventy-eight-year-old James Wankul of Phoenix suffered 2nd degree burns on his feet, after he walked outside barefoot, while trying to catch up with his mail carrier.   Wankul made it halfway across the street before the pain to his feet from the hot pavement brought him to his knees. A neighbor ran to his aid after seeing him fall in the street and try to crawl back to a grassy area on his hands and knees.

With intensifying heat across the region this week, it is very important to take all precautions to stay cool and safe, including not walking barefoot on hot pavement as one man did in Arizona this past weekend. Seventy-eight-year-old James Wankul of Phoenix suffered 2nd degree burns on his feet, after he walked outside barefoot, while trying to catch up with his mail carrier.   Wankul made it halfway across the street before the pain to his feet from the hot pavement brought him to his knees. A neighbor ran to his aid after seeing him fall in the street and try to crawl back to a grassy area on his hands and knees.

The high temperature in Phoenix Saturday reached 110 degrees.  That's the temperature as measured IN THE SHADE, at the airport a measured distance above a minimum sized grassy area.  Pavement in the sun gets much hotter.

Last week the Arizona Burn Center warned about what it calls "streets of fire."  The center says excessive heat can severely burn the bare feet of children and others who walk on scorching pavement.

Sidewalk temperatures during very hot weather can reach from 130 to 180 degrees. That includes pavement, pool decks and playground flooring.

It's Arizona, folks.  You don't have to shovel the heat, but you do need to respect it!

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