phoenix a dangerous heat wave threatened a wide swath of the southwest with potentially deadly temperatures in the triple digits on saturday as some cooling centers extended their hours and emergency rooms prepared to treat more people with heatrelated illnesses near record temperatures are expected this weekend the national weather service in phoenix warned in a tweet advising people to follow its safety tips such as drinking plenty of water and checking on relatives and neighbors dont be a statistic the weather service in tucson advised noting extreme heat can be deadly it can happen to you over 110 million people or about a third of americans were under extreme heat advisories watches and warnings saturday as the blistering heat wave was forecast to get worse this weekend for nevada arizona and california temperatures in some desert areas were predicted to soar past 120 degrees fahrenheit 488 degrees celsius during the day and remain in the 90s f above 322 c overnight around 200 hydration stations distributing bottles of water and cooling centers where potentially thousands of people can rest in airconditioned spaces opened saturday in public spaces like libraries churches and businesses around the phoenix area charles sanders spent friday afternoon with his chihuahua mix babygirl at the airconditioned justa center which offers daytime services to older homeless people in downtown phoenix its also serving as a hydration station distributing free bottles of water because of funding and staffing limitations the center can only stay open until 530 pm so sanders a 59yearold who uses a wheelchair has spent the sweltering nights with his pet in a tattered tent behind the building ive been here for four summers now and its the worst so far said sanders a former welder originally from denver david hondula chief heat officer for the city of phoenix said friday that because of the health risks some centers were extending hours that are sometimes abbreviated because of limited volunteers and money this weekend there will be some of the most serious and hot conditions weve ever seen said hondula he said just one location the brian garcia welcome center for homeless people in downtown phoenix planned to be open 24 hours and direct people to shelters and other airconditioned spaces for the night during especially hot spells in the past the phoenix convention center has opened some space as a nighttime cooling center but hondula said he had not heard of that possibility this year stacy champion an advocate for homeless people in phoenix took to twitter this week to criticize the lack of nighttime cooling spaces for unsheltered individuals saying they are out of luck if they have no place to go in las vegas casinos offered respite from the heat for many airconditioned libraries police station lobbies and other places from texas to california planned to be open to the public to offer relief for at least part of the day emergency room doctors in las vegas have been treating more people