Heat is on Again Today

By Michael Hasch
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

A pit bull in Heidelberg chained to a 55-gallon drum used as a dog house died in the heat Tuesday as temperatures soared into the 90s throughout Pennsylvania.
Elsewhere, two young men trying to cool down in Slippery Rock Creek escaped injury when they encountered problems on a low-head dam at Camp Allegheny in Lawrence County.

Today could be the hottest day of the year, but a cold front Thursday night should return temperatures to normal by the weekend, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Rehak.

Neighbors called Heidelberg police shortly after 2 p.m. about two unresponsive pit bulls in a yard in the rear of East Railroad Avenue, Patrolman Michael Harbaugh said.

Police Chief Vernon Barkley found one dead dog, but rescue personnel were able to revive the other by spraying it with a hose. The survivor was turned over to humane officers.

Charges of animal cruelty will be filed against the dog owner, Harbaugh said.

A spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said no human heat-related deaths were reported Monday or yesterday.

The Beaver County Public Safety Dive Team was called at 1:30 p.m. to Camp Allegheny in Wayne Township, near Ellwood City, for a report of a young man in an inflatable raft hung up on a low-head dam.

Divers motored out to the man and pulled him to safety about 90 minutes after his ordeal began.

He escaped injury, as did a companion who managed to make it to shore after his innertube was swept over the dam, Beaver Falls firefighter Robert Butler said.

Low-head dams -- man-made structures built to back up water -- are perilous because they create a backwash that traps, pulls below the surface and recirculates anything that floats, according to the National Safe Boating Council.

The high today could be 92, a degree warmer than yesterday's high at the National Weather Service headquarters in Moon, where the heat index -- a combination of heat and humidity -- made it feel like 98, Rehak said.

Thermometers on some bank buildings showed temperatures at 100 or higher.

"It's just a little bit of a hot spell that should break Thursday night," Rehak said. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 80s over the weekend.

Yesterday was the fourth day this year that temperatures reached the 90s at the Weather Service headquarters, where the official records are taken.

The high was 91 on May 31 and July 16, and 90 on July 17, Rehak said. Temperatures reach the 90s seven times during a normal summer.

Heat warnings were in effect yesterday for 32 Pennsylvania counties, mostly in the eastern part of the state. Heat advisories were in effect in 19 areas including Pittsburgh.

An unhealthy amount of fine particles will linger in the humid air today, prompting the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to issue an Air Quality Action Day.

The same warning was issued yesterday.

Children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems should limit their time outdoors, and everyone is asked to conserve energy and carpool in an effort to reduce air pollution, according to the DEP.

The heat forced Citiparks to postpone the Senior Games competition yesterday and today, according to the city's Department of Parks and Recreation.

The annual competition will resume Thursday and continue until Aug. 18.

Four senior citizen centers, which normally close at 4 p.m., stayed open until 7 p.m. yesterday and will do so again today and Thursday to provide a "cool island" for those who do not have air conditioning.

The centers are located at: 7321 Frankstown Ave., Homewood; 5 Allegheny Square, North Side; 720 Sherwood Ave., Sheraden; and 12th and Bingham streets, South Side.

Michael Hasch can be reached at mhasch@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7820.

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