Heat wave: Scottsdale gets ready for a hot week

Scottsdale prepares for heat wave

Parts of the Phoenix area could see triple-digit temperatures this week, and with this record-breaking heat wave, some are already getting ready for some summer-like conditions. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen reports.

PHOENIX - With the record-breaking heat wave in Phoenix this week, some are getting ready for the hot weather.

Big picture view:

In Scottsdale, there is a splash pad that is open all year, and on March 16, Hanna Sims and her kids, Savanah and Samuel, were there.

"They love it, they love it," said Hannah. "Sounds like summer in Arizona. Like, it's not even summer yet!"

"Everybody was dreading a summer academy, but summer is here in March unfortunately," said Dave Folio with the Scottsdale Fire Department. "I just went by there right now, and usually they have hose pulling in the afternoon. They did it this morning, and now they’re in the classroom for wildfire training."

Dig deeper:

Folio says they’re getting summer-ready already. He tells us they’ve seen an uptick this week in heat exhaustion and heat stroke calls.

In Phoenix, they stressed libraries are open year-round to cool down in with water on site—a cooling center in March. Folio says first responders are prepared for heat response already.

"What we have started doing is storing cold bags, cold IV fluid bags and stuff like that," Folio said. "We’re also implementing cold stations like Phoenix did last year."

Next month, they’ll install ice stations at the trails, like Phoenix has at Echo Canyon. These are available for firefighters to quickly cool down someone with a blue bag.

So even though it’s early, the plan is in place. Hannah has a plan too: March afternoons at the splash pad.

"We have any rain coming?" Sims said.

What they're saying:

At Margaret T. Hance Park in Downtown Phoenix, the splash pads were not open.

We asked officials with the city's parks department if they’d consider opening the splash pads early this year because of the forecast, and they said they are working diligently to open all splash pads in the city by the weekend.