PHOENIX — Two hikers were rescued from popular Phoenix trails Saturday morning after heat exhaustion left them unable to make it down the mountains on their own, officials said.
The incidents happened around 9:30 a.m., when the temperature had already reached 93 degrees, underscoring how quickly conditions can become dangerous even before the hottest part of the day.
On South Mountain, firefighters responded to a man suffering from heat exhaustion who couldn’t continue on the trail. Medical personnel attempted cooling measures on-site, but he ultimately had to be transported down the mountain on a big wheel stretcher and taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
At nearly the same time, another call came from the Echo Canyon Trail on Camelback Mountain, where a woman was reported to have a knee injury. Upon further assessment, rescuers determined she was also overheated and unable to descend safely. Crews used a stretcher to bring her down the steep trail before she was hospitalized in stable condition.
The rescues serve as a reminder that triple-digit temperatures remain a serious risk for hikers. In Phoenix, daily highs are expected to reach or exceed 100 degrees through much of the coming week, and the city’s average high temperature typically stays above 100 until mid-September.
