We all can feel it: the Valley keeps getting hotter. It hit 100 degrees in early April, tying a record high temperature for the date. The Valley is also a “leader” in heat deaths- on track to exceed last year’s hundreds of victims. We think that there’s nothing natural about these preventable deaths: these are social murders with victims and culprits.

In 2024, almost two-thirds (62%) of heat-related deaths indoors in Arizona took place in homes. Of the cases where an air conditioning unit was present, it wasn’t working in 70% of them. Tenants in mobile homes particularly lack sufficient cooling, so they had to organize in 2024 for the right to install their own A/C units.

The majority of victims are our elders- over 50 years old. They are housed in colonial, redlined sprawl which is hotter and has less water than other areas.

What can we make from this? We should learn and apply our legal rights, but they aren’t enough. Landlords shrug when hundreds go without basic necessities, year after year, and the government slaps them on the wrist at best. If you take these mortal stakes as seriously as we do, join the revolutionary struggle for decent housing!

Check out our 'Heat is Murder' Know Your Rights brochure