RICHLAND, Wash. – Benton County Coroner Bill Leach confirmed on Wednesday that a Richland resident died on Monday due to the heat and that a couple was found dead in their home on Tuesday from potential heat complications.
Leach says Luis Vieyra, 70, was found dead in his fifth wheel trailer by his family. Temperatures inside the trailer were in the 100s with only a single fan running.
The next day, a couple, 90-year-old David Rhodes and 85-year-old Alice Rhodes, were found dead in their Richland home. Their cause of death is unconfirmed, however Leach says the deaths are being investigated as heat-related.
Leach notes that the home had a cooling unit that was not working properly and two fans blowing. When found, the home was reportedly 99 degrees and that it’s “unusual” for two people to die from heat at the same time.
Another heat-related death was recently reported in the Tri-Cities, with a 61-year-old man dying of hyperthermia in a mobile home in East Pasco.
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in the Tri-Cities have been consistently above average since July 4. July 9 registered as the hottest day in July so far at 109 degrees.
