A homeless encampment sits in the woods off the canal path along the Delaware River. Advocates for the homeless are concerned about the impact of the recent heat wave – which resulted in 29 deaths in New Jersey on people who are unhoused. (Photo: Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
Heat-related deaths in New Jersey appear to have shot up roughly five-fold over last summer following a holiday weekend with record-high temperatures, prompting advocates to urge the state to do more to protect vulnerable residents.
New Jersey reported 29 heat-related deaths between July 2 — when state data shows temperatures in New Jersey peaked at 108 degrees — and July 6, according to state health officials, up from six such fatalities last summer.
Roughly a dozen of the deaths involved people who were unhoused or living in their cars, said Connie Mercer, CEO of the NJ Coalition to End Homelessness.
“Really we had a mass casualty event,” Mercer said.
Mercer and others want the state to expand its network of emergency cooling centers and take other steps to better protect those who are living or working outside from the impact of extreme temperatures.
State health officials did not provide specifics on the recent heat-related deaths, which must still be confirmed by autopsies, but they said most occurred in north and central New Jersey and involved people of all ages, not just elderly residents. Some were found in homes without air conditioning, while others died on the street or in parked cars, they said.
The heat also led emergency rooms to diagnose 132 people with heat-related illnesses on July 3, the highest single-day total in several years. Between July 2 and July 6, more than 350 people sought emergency care for heat issues, state data shows.
“This is not a typical summer heat wave and it’s really important that we all take it seriously because it can become life-threatening very quickly,” state health commissioner Raynard Washington said at a July 4 press conference on storm damage and heat impacts.
New Jersey has reported heat-related fatalities in the single-digits for most years since 2000, when there were just two such deaths, according to health department data. Deaths peaked at 11 in 2002 and reached 10 in 2011 but fell to three in 2024.
The recent high death toll underscores the need to do more to protect those who work outdoors, according to state Sen. Joe Cryan (D-Union), who has championed a bill to create a state program to reduce occupational heat stress.
The bill, which has yet to get a hearing, calls for farms, amusement parks and other outdoor job sites to provide water, shade breaks and monitor workers for heat stress, among other things.
“Twenty-nine heat-related deaths is a staggering figure for one of the wealthiest states in the nation,” Cryan told the New Jersey Monitor, adding that he is renewing his push for worker protections and believes Gov. Mikie Sherrill “should be leading the charge for it.”
Sherrill’s office declined to comment but pointed to a broadcast interview the governor gave earlier this week about the impacts of the recent extreme weather, in which she said she was open to new ways to better serve the public during storms and heat waves. She said state agencies had sought to warn residents through social media and other channels and noted her office had worked closely with counties to establish cooling centers.
The governor also announced a new heat-health website during a July 4 press conference and urged residents to look out for each other during the extreme temperatures.
“Extreme heat is the number one weather-related killer in America, and this is the hottest stretch we’ve seen in over 14 years. And the heat is hitting all of us — not just seniors, not just people with underlying conditions. People of all ages,” Sherrill said.
Advocates like Mercer said extreme temperature was only part of the problem. The recent deaths were preventable, she said, a result of systemic policy failure. New Jersey needs to do more to create affordable housing, support shelters and invest in emergency sites to keep people cool on dangerously hot days, she said.
“Quality shelter in a variety of forms would make sure that not too many people died horrible deaths out in the sun,” she told the New Jersey Monitor.
According to the most recent annual point-in-time count, more than 13,700 people were considered homeless in 2025.
Heat-related illnesses occur when the body can’t properly cool itself, according to the health department, and the higher the temperature, the greater the risk. Infants, the elderly, and people with chronic health conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular issues and respiratory diseases are most in danger, it notes.
Kelvin Body, director of healthy homes and communities with the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, said the recent fatalities underscore the need for a statewide ‘code red’ alert system for extreme heat, like the ‘code blue’ warnings now in place for deep freezes.
As it is, Body said a handful of urban centers have instituted comprehensive responses to heat events, with designated cooling centers and clear strategies to communicate these options to residents. A pilot program adopted last year and backed by $2.5 million in state funds calls for similar programs in the five counties with the highest homeless rates: Essex, Burlington, Hudson, Union and Mercer.
Work on the pilot is progressing slowly however, Body said, and the need for cooling services stretches statewide. “Clearly, as we saw with the recent statewide heatwave, this is needed outside the five counties,” he told the New Jersey Monitor.
Mercer said the code red program, while well intentioned, is not enough to address the need. “It’s a joke,” she said.
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Courtesy: New Jersey Monitor