Phoenix’s Scorched Streets: Where Everything Feels Like a Furnace

As the camera captures the scorching streets of Phoenix, it becomes clear that the city is a sweltering hoven where even the concrete cracks and crumbles under the unrelenting heat. When Carlos Barria’s photographs from late July were taken, the temperatures had reached a staggering 150F (66C) on the pavement, making each step a challenge, let alone the daily labor of those working outside. For those without a roof over their heads, the misery was compounded by the unrelenting heat, which had turned streets into a personal sauna.

One terrain worker, Ulises, from Mexico, had to trudge through the day carrying heavy bags of leaves, his body already reaching a temperature of 105F (41C), a sign of the unbearable conditions he endured. It was a sight that would break the heart of anyone who witnessed it: Ulises, with his thick, black hair slicked back, his brown skin glistening with sweat, and his eyes squinting in the intense heat, a testament to the toll the job took on his body.

Meanwhile, firefighters and EMT personnel were hard at work, assisting those who had collapsed under the weight of the heat. Their desperation to revive those who had succumbed to the heat was a stark reminder of the city’s own vulnerability. The once-thriving saguaro cactus, a symbol of the American West, was parched and wilting, a reflection of the city’s own withered existence.

In an attempt to find solace from the relentless heat, tourists strolled along trails near Hole in the Rock, their skin sizzling under the sun, while homeless individuals desperately sought refuge from the sweltering temperatures. Some found temporary respite in makeshift cooling stations, set up to provide a brief escape from the heat, while others attended baseball games at the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium, the air-conditioned comfort a welcome relief from the outside world. The cars parked outside a hotel in Phoenix, lined up like soldiers, seemed to mirror the people, trudging along, searching for any glimpse of shade or respite.

In the midst of this sweltering heat, the city’s residents had become accustomed to the new normal, the constant awareness of the heat weighing heavily on their minds. Cars slowed down, the speed limits lowered, and shade-seeking pedestrians proliferated, all just a testimony to the city’s surrender to the unforgiving sun. As the cameras snapped away, capturing the desperation and the despair, it was clear that the heat had stolen the heart from the city, leaving behind only ashes and longing for the sweet relief of a cooler day.