FILE - Residents at Home Forward's Northwest Tower crack their windows open for airflow or to place air conditioning units and fans in them in Portland, Ore., July 9, 2024.
Anna Lueck / OPB
A 56-year-old man found dead in Portland on Saturday may have died as a result of the region’s current heat wave, according to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner.
County officials did not release any additional information about the man’s identity and cautioned that his cause of death is “considered suspected.” They said it will take investigators weeks or even months to know for sure whether the man died from heat-released causes.
The man’s body was found in zip code 97209, which includes the Pearl District as well as Old Town, where several social services providers operate clinics, shelters and serve meals to some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Across parts of the Pacific Northwest, temperatures soared over the weekend. The Portland International Airport recorded a high of nearly 101 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, 98 degrees on Saturday, and 95 degrees on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Temperatures are expected to stay dangerously hot. The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning that’s in effect until 11 p.m. Tuesday, for much of Southwest Washington and the Willamette Valley.
The Multnomah County Medical Examiner is investigating at least two other heat-related deaths from earlier this month.
Heat-related deaths have become a growing concern ever since a heat dome during the summer of 2021 killed more than 100 people in Oregon.
A report by the Oregon Health Authority found deaths linked to heat in 28 cities across the state that year. The majority who died were in Multnomah County and affected largely low income, elderly people living alone.
