Contact burns are up 25% in metro Phoenix. Doctors aren't sure why it's so much worse than 2023

If you’ve ever tried to open a car door or tripped on the sidewalk in direct sunlight, you know that triple-digit temperatures affect everything we come in contact with. This summer, Phoenix has seen a sharp rise in contact burns from hot pavement.

“The number of patients that we’re seeing far exceeds what we were seeing last year,” said Dr. Kevin Foster, who directs the Valleywise Health Diane and Bruce Halle Burn Center. “And our acuity, the sickness of these patients is greater than last year, too. And we can’t really figure out why it’s happening.”

Despite this July not being quite as hot as last year’s record-setting month, Foster said the clinic has seen up to a 25% increase in contact burn patients compared to last year, especially among older men.

“On a hot July afternoon in direct sunlight, pavement is 170 to 180 degrees,” he said. “So that’s just short of boiling.”

Surfaces this hot produce third-degree burns within a minute.

Couple that with the fact that victims aren’t often found right away when they fall, said Foster, and “most of these deaths are just not preventable. The patients are just so sick when they get here that the injuries are lethal and they’re not survivable.”

Foster said they’re currently seeing about two admissions every day for contact burns.