BOSTON (AP) — Last summer, Boston was afflicted by rain. This year, the city is baking, with Mayor Michelle Wu this week declaring a heat emergency.
Neither scenario has been ideal for kayakers and paddleboarders on the Charles River, although more tend to opt for too much heat over too much moisture.
“When it’s in the 70s and 80s, that’s great weather for paddling,” said Mark Jacobson, the vice president of Paddle Boston. “When it starts getting above 90, then we notice that there’s a little bit of a drop off, but people are still coming out. So, it affects business, but it doesn’t shut us down the way rain would.”
Wu declared the heat emergency Monday through Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to reach into the high 90s Fahrenheit (around 36 Celsius) and the heat index expected to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). Similar temperatures are expected across much of New England.
City officials in Boston said they're taking a number of measures to cool things off, including setting up misting tents around the city, opening cooling centers at 14 community centers and encouraging residents to seek relief in city pools and libraries.
During heat waves, Boston's emergency medical services report they typically experience a 10-15% increase in 911 calls.
Heat is the top cause of weather-related fatalities nationwide. And this year, the U.S. is experiencing dangerous conditions across much of the country, especially in the West. Climate scientists warn the extreme weather is a harbinger of things to come as the planet warms.
“As we face another round of hot weather in Boston, our city teams are working to ensure all residents, especially children and seniors, have the resources to stay cool,” Wu said in a statement. “We’re encouraging families to take advantage of the pools and splash pads that are open, take breaks inside, and to stay hydrated and check on each other.”
On Boston Common, Ashley Cealy was selling lemonade and roasted nuts Tuesday, when temperatures were predicted to rise into the mid-90s. The 21-year-old Boston resident said she tends to see more thirsty customers when the temperature soars, but not always.
“When there is a heat advisory, people might stay in, so it’s hit or miss,” she said.
Cealy, who works at a stand next to a visitor’s center, said she does her best to keep cool during the hottest hours of the day.
“I have a little fan and I keep hydrated,” she said. “I have shade as well, so that’s good.”
Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire.
Logan Griggs, of Hampton, N.H., right, jumps onto his restored fishing boat as his dad, Tim Griggs, steadies the stern on the boat's first launch of the year at Great Pond, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Kingston, N.H. Temperatures in most of New England are holding in the mid-90's during the day, as the hot weather of summer continues. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Sierra Payne, of Boston, reaches for a bottle of water while trying to stay cool under an umbrella as she visits Wollaston Beach, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Quincy, Mass. Temperatures reached 90 degrees in many areas in the state Monday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
KARTALKAYA, Turkey (AP) — As flames tore through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey, friends Esra Karakisa and Halime Cetin stood helpless, paralyzed by the horror unfolding before them: people leaning out of smoke-filled rooms pleading for help and others making the harrowing decision to leap out.
The fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalya, in the Koroglu mountains in Bolu province, on Tuesday left at least 76 people dead and 51 injured. It came near the start of a two-week winter break for schools when hotels in the region are filled to capacity.
“There was no one around. They were calling for firefighters. They were breaking the windows. Some could no longer stand the smoke and flames, and they jumped,” Cetin, an employee at a hotel adjacent to the Grand Kartal, told The Associated Press.
Her colleague, Karakisa said: “It was awful. We were terrified. People were screaming. The cries of children especially affected us. We wanted to help but there was nothing we could do. I couldn’t look it was so terrifying.”
Authorities have assigned six prosecutors to investigate the cause of the fire, which appeared to have started at the restaurant section on the fourth floor of of the wooden-clad hotel and spread quickly through to the upper floors.
At least nine people have been detained for questioning, including the hotel owner.
Flags at government buildings and Turkish diplomatic missions abroad were lowered to half-staff as the nation shocked by the disaster observed a day of mourning for the victims.
Only 45 of the 76 bodies have been identified so far, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said late Tuesday.
One of the injured was in serious condition, while 29 others were treated and released, the Health Ministry said.
The hotel had 238 registered guests, according to Yerlikaya. The fire was reported at 3:27 a.m. and the fire department began to respond at 4:15 a.m., he told reporters.
Officials and witnesses said the rescue efforts were hampered by the fact that part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff.
According to Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024, and “no negative situation regarding fire competence” was reported by the fire department.
Karakisa said she eventually brought clothes and water for the survivors while others rushed to bring mattresses for people to jump onto or propped up ladders against the wall to help them escape.
Among those who placed mattresses was Baris Salgur, a cleaner in a nearby hotel.
“They were saying, ‘Please help, we’re burning!' They were saying, ‘Call the fire department,' we were trying to calm them down, but there was nothing we could do, we couldn’t get in either,” Salgur, 19, said. " It was very high, we couldn’t extend a rope or anything of course. We were trying to do the best we could.”
“People jumped from a great height, I couldn’t look. There were two women at the top floor. The flames had literally entered the room. They couldn’t stand it and jumped,” he said.
Salgur described seeing a man on the top floors holding a baby and shouting for a mattress he could throw his baby on.
"We told him to be a little calmer. He waited, then the fire department came and took them (out), but unfortunately the baby had died from smoke inhalation,” he said.
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Robert Badendieck in Istanbul contributed to this report.
Tightened bed sheets hang from a window of a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A Turkish flag flag flies at half staff outside a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters and emergency teams work on the aftermath of a fire that broke out at a hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, in northwest Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Enes Ozkan/IHA via AP)