With temperatures topping out at 107 degrees in Redmond, residents struggled under the weight of a week-long heat wave.

According to Tom Mooney, Redmond Fire and Rescue fire marshal, said crews responded to 10 fires since the Fourth of July, — most of them due to fireworks being improperly disposed of or misfiring. Mooney said there were four more holiday fires than last year. A wildfire also touched off July 6 just east of the Redmond Airport.

Lena Berry, a member of Redmond Collective Action, was concerned about how the heat would impact unhoused members of the public.

Berry, along with a team of volunteers, help the unhoused population in Redmond year round, but stepped up their efforts during this heat wave.

For the last four years, the RCA has activated cooling shelters and run supplies to homeless camps. These supply drops include water, ice, Gatorade, electrolyte packets, fresh food, sunblock, aloe vera gel, wet wipes and gift cards to places with air conditioning.

“Things like that, we take for granted being housed, even the fact that we can come in and shower, right? I can go out and get dusty and gross and sweaty but come home and take a nice cold shower. I’ve got cold drinks in my fridge … We take these things for granted, that other people aren’t getting. It’s a relief they don’t have,” Berry said.

Berry said the team makes as many trips as they can — sometimes a few a day — but it depends on how many volunteers are working and how many donations or funds RCA receives.

Though the extreme heat outreach may defer as temperatures cool, the RCA is still searching for volunteers to help with the weekly Sunday Pop-up Street Kitchen where the team serves nine dozen hot meals and sack lunches.

“We’re still looking to build capacity,” Berry said. “We know that these aren’t going to be the last hot days this summer, right?”

As temperatures continue to rise, heat and fire advisories are being put in place, which include a ban on recreational fires until further notice.

“Central Oregon Fire Management service has responded to 99 human-caused fires compared to one lightning-caused fire so far this fire season. Our 10-year average is 160 human-caused fires annually,” said Jaimie Olle, Central Oregon Fire public affairs specialist.

According to Olle, there were 18 public-use fire restriction violations since July 4 in the Central Oregon area. The Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch center reported four fires on July 4 and 10 additional fires that burned more than 22 acres since in the last week.

The Redmond Police Department is increasing police presence in city parks during the summer as they conduct bike and foot patrols, partly due deal with vandalism but also to keep an eye on park-goers in the heat.