 Good morning. My name is Rene Teyes. I'm the Chief Communications Officer that's spelled R-E-Y-N-E-T-E-L-L-E-S. And I'd like to begin by thanking our communication staff, particularly Allison Rich and Fort Worth TV, for their coordination efforts today. As we begin, I'm an important message about urban heat and the health risks that it poses, particularly for our vulnerable populations, including our residents and our pets. And another message that we're also going to hear as the Fourth of July approaches, particularly with the triple digits combined with the holiday, will be conveying some messages. And then afterwards, after we hear from all of our speakers, we'll open it up for questions for them if you have some specifically. Or if you'd like a one-on-one separately with any of our speakers, we'll be glad to facilitate that. So I'd like to call up first our Emergency Management Director, Robert Medford. I'm Robert Medford, M-E-D-F-O-R-D. We've received several inquiries from the media regarding cool areas for our citizens, our residents to seek refuge from the heat. Our public buildings that open to the public at any time or during normal business hours, they'll continue to be open where people can seek refuge from the heat. We've also received inquiries regarding shelter plans should we have a widespread long-term power outage. We have plans in place for that should that occur. We will stay in contact with our partners on-core and should the need arise, we'll notify the public of those locations. Our next speaker is Chris Lorette, the Code Compliant Superintendent. Hello, I'm Chris Lorette and I'm with Animal Control. I just want to give some helpful hints for some of our citizens out there with the pets. If you're driving around with your pet in your car, don't leave your pet in the car. Temperatures at 100 degree, you know, the car inside could be anywhere from 120 to 140 degrees. Make sure your pets have a lot of water if they're outside. Even if you're on walks with them in the parks, try to have them walk in the shade on the grass. Their little pads on their paws are very sensitive. Some of the things you can do for their pads, you can put suntan lotion on them, pet friendly suntan lotion. Definitely no signs for overheating for your dog, heavy panting, excessive drooling. If they look like they're about to collapse, you want to definitely get vet care for them. Temperatures out there, you know, walking on the asphalt for the dogs, they have fur. They don't sweat like us. They tend to overheat very quickly, especially in cars that are over hot and all that. If you need to get in touch with somebody or try to get in touch with people, if you find a dog in the car, you definitely want to reach out to the security guards at the shopping centers, try and make an announcement for them, see if we can get the owners out there. All in all, call the police department or call Animal Control so we can come out. And keep our friends safe. Our next speaker is Scott Daniels with Neighborhood Services. Hi, I'm Scott Daniels, SCOTT, D-A-N-I-E-L-S. I'm with the City of Fort Worth Neighborhood Services Department. I'm here to talk about our partners who run the homeless shelters in our area, as well as our community centers, which actually has something very special coming up this summer. But first, let's talk about what's happening to beat the heat with our homeless shelters here locally. I'm going to just run through the list. We've got When We Love located on East Lancaster Avenue. They have water and ice stations open from 9-5 on the west side of their building. It's a self-serve station. People can refill their bottled waters. They can also get iced bottled water as well. And many days, there'll be prepackaged snacks available, too, next to those ice stations. Saturdays and Sundays also offer water and ice, but those times vary depending on the churches and the availability of the volunteers. Salvation Army located on East Lancaster have bottled water distributed on those days. Front doors open up until 8.30 p.m. The Union Gospel Mission is handing out water from seven days a week, and the True Worth Place is open on all days when the temperatures are 100 degrees or more. Presbyterian night shelters start overnight bed assignments in our men's and women's shelters. And those are going to start earlier, so 1 p.m. on the days that it's 100 degrees temperatures or higher. And then PNS also has containers for bottled water as well. And for people experiencing homelessness, outside of those areas, we have street teams available that are doing assessing for people, as well as handing out water bottles as well. So now to our community centers, which we have this big campaign going on to beat the heat. So we always welcome everyone to our community centers every summer and winter, of course, no matter what the temperature is. But this summer, the City of Fort Worth has teamed up with Reliant Energy to make sure that we have three community centers open with our lobbies, with air conditioning, and more to beat the heat. Those community centers are Martin Luther King Junior Community Center, the Como Community Center, and the Northside Community Center. They'll have summer day camps going on. So we just wanted to make sure that there's accommodating spaces for people who just want to come inside and stay away from those hot temperatures who need cooling off. And to show you all, Reliant Energy will be giving away about 30 of these brand new portable evaporative air coolers starting on Wednesday. So we'd like to invite the media as well as our local residents to join us at the MLK Community Center Wednesday, June 28th, starting at 10.30 a.m. for a joint press conference to announce the new summer programs going on and for our residents to win one of these $100 coolers that are available. So we hope to see you there and to beat the heat this summer. Oh, almost forgot. Coming up next is Matt with MedStar. That was helpful. Hi, Matt Savadsky, Z-A-V-A-D-S-K-Y. I'm with MedStar, I'm the Chief Transformation Officer. We have already responded to 118 patients who are suffering from a heat-related emergency. 71 of those people were sick enough to need to go to the hospital. We are barely just getting into the summer season and the summers here in North Texas can be very long. So we're very appreciative of the City of Fort Worth hosting this event. We just want to remind everyone that heat is serious. When you look at the thermometer and you see it's 90 degrees outside, the thermometer only tells one part of the story. The majority of the heat responses that we've had so far this summer are because the heat index, the combination of the temperature and the humidity, has been very, very high. 110, 111 are higher in some cases. So we really encourage people, if you do not need to go outside, don't. If you are going to go outside, pre-hydrate. If you've waited until you start getting thirsty when you're out in the community, it's too late. You're behind the eight ball. So typically we recommend at least a day or two ahead of time. So if it's Thursday and you know you're going to be out and about on Saturday, start tanking up today. Signs and symptoms of a heat-related emergency, profuse sweating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, muscle cramps. Those are signs that your body is telling you to move into a cool environment, take a break. If you find someone who is unresponsive, hot to the touch, and bone dry, that is a medical emergency, call 911 right away. Those patients need to be acutely managed and taken to the hospital for treatment. We have a lot of information on our website, medstar91.org, treatment recommendations, and other signs and symptoms. You're more than welcome to visit so you can get some additional information. Next up, we're going to have Juanita Rigsby from Property Management. Good morning. I'm Juanita Rigsby, Juanita, J-U-A-N-I-T-A, Rigsby-R-I-G-S-B-Y with the City's Property Management Department. And I'm here to inform you of the actions that the city takes when we receive voluntary conservation notices from ERCOT. First off, we notify our liaisons in the various departments of the city of Fort Worth so that they can implement programs to conserve energy during peak periods when it's safe to do so. Also, we post internal bulletins for all of our staff to take action to conserve energy, and that includes turning off lights, unplugging small appliances and electronics, and just taking these simple actions, making sure that we turn off lights when we're not in the room, turning off any electronics when we're not in those rooms. Also, the city continues its commitment to conserve energy and has done so for the last decade, making sure that we implement energy efficiency programs and taking action such as HVAC improvements, making sure that we upgrade lighting to LED fixtures for external and internal to our facilities. We're also in compliance with the state's SB 241, making sure that we're reducing energy usage continually by making sure we're using cool roof technology, continuing power factor correction for our higher energy equipment. We're also continuing effective energy efficiency management processes by making sure that we're tracking our billing usage, making sure that we are looking for opportunities of improvement to our energy use so that we can continue to reduce energy demand. We're also registered with our partners so that we receive notices of peak demand for the forecasted peak demand so that we can continue to plan and prepare for high heat events. We're also registered with ERCOT's Texas Advisory Notification System, and this is something that Citizens of Fort Worth can do as well so that you are aware of the grid conditions and you can register for emails, you can also make sure that you follow them on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Also, just as the staff here at the city implement ways to reduce energy use, our citizens can do so as well at home, making sure that you're unplugging small appliances, making sure that you turn off electronics when you're not in the room, and of course this is all if it's safe to do so, and especially staying cool in the home. You can turn up your thermostat just as we do here to 78 degrees or higher, but making sure that you're using fans in coordination with your AC unit so it doesn't have to work as hard. Your ceiling fans can be switched to make sure it's going counterclockwise, which creates a downward draft effect and a cooling effect so that you stay cool in your home. We also recommend that you close your blinds so that the cool air can remain in and blocking the heat using blackout curtains in your homes. Again, we're doing the same small but effective steps here at the city and continuing to make sure that we are being responsible with our energy use. Our next speaker is Richard Harrison from the Fort Worth Fire Department. Thank you. Good morning. I'm Richard Harrison, H-A-R-R-I-S-O-N with the Fort Worth Fire Department. I've been asked to speak a little bit about fireworks, Independence Day is coming up. I've got some information to help everybody address reporting. We're going to start with the same thing we want to impress on people every year. Fireworks are illegal in the city of Fort Worth. The possession, the use, the sale of fireworks is illegal except for the permitted shows, which we're going to encourage you to seek out. The other thing is they're dangerous and I know that that message can kind of start sounding like background noise, but Matt and I were just talking about the injuries, the catastrophic injuries that we see every year and we really want that message to be renewed when we speak to it and have folks pay attention. The other thing is we can predict that fireworks are going to be a problem over the holiday period. So we specifically work, it's a city-wide effort. We bring everybody together and we try to set up a task force and a system to handle this. Just to give you some perspective, a busy day for the fire department might be 400 calls. On the four-day period of this task force, we can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 calls just for fireworks response. Half of those 2,500 calls are going to come in an eight-hour period on July 4th. Now, if we tried to use the systems that are built that exist, it would collapse our 9-1-1 systems. In order to address that, we've offered some avenues for the public to report these complaints and we take the complaints serious, but we want these systems to be used. We want them to be prioritized because we've got to keep the 9-1-1 systems open. 9-1-1 is for when we have imminent threat to somebody's health, life, welfare, or property, and that's what 9-1-1's for. So we've got those frontline resources out there, whether it's fire, police, med-star, we're out there and we're ready to respond through those systems. And in order to manage the fireworks side of it, we've set up some options for the citizens to go through. So we have a hotline. It's a phone number. It's 817-392-4444. And you can call. We have volunteers manning those banks for the entire duration of the operation and they'll take the information. We'll get it logged and we'll get it prioritized so that we can get somebody out there as soon as we can. We've also got My Fort Worth, the web application that you can access from a smart device. And lastly, we've got reportfireworks.fortworthtexas.gov. That'll get you to the web application and all of these are on Fort Worth's homepage. So we just want to encourage everybody to use those systems. There was a little bit of confusion last year. I think that some of the citizens thought when they were being told if you can't hold on the phone hotline to go to this system. And I want to make sure that people hear this. That messaging is built out so that if you are unable to hold, because the calls are going to get backed up, there is going to be some lag time in catching up with 5,000 calls, 2,508-hour period, that those other systems are built in as redundancies. We're not telling you, you're welcome to stay on hold if we have to get you there. We'll do that, but we do have the web application and the My App as other alternatives to get the reporting in. So I want to wish everybody a happy Independence Day. And with that, I'll turn it back over to Renee. Thank you, Richard, for that important Fourth of July message. And as you can see, it's a multi-departmental approach for the fastest growing city, the fastest growing large city in the United States and from the precautions to take with your furry friends to steps that we're taking internally, what to watch for health-wise throughout this extreme heat span, services for our homeless population. And then sometimes we have some municipalities that are our neighbors and friends referred to them as cooling centers. But the messaging, I think, to take away is that if there is a city of Fort Worth facility that is open to the public, close to you do not hesitate to use that as a place for you to be able to get a break from the heat if your air conditioning goes out or if you just need a place for some refuge from the high temperatures. With that, we're going to open things up for questions if anybody has them from any of our speakers. It was past, it was kind of directed towards Dallas and Austin about kind of cutting, part of it was to cut breaks for construction workers. Fort Worth wasn't necessarily mentioned in that, didn't know where the city stood on that, making sure that construction workers weren't dropping from heat-related injuries, whether that's being addressed at all. If I am correct, the bill was vetoed. And so it's not going to become law, but certainly as you heard from MedStar, staying hydrated for any individual is an important thing to do, particularly in these heat and temperatures. And we'd certainly be encouraging of managers and those working outside to be mindful of that and to take precautions so that they don't overheat and then it becomes a medical issue. The Fourth of July fireworks, the city of Fort Worth had fireworks, but they had to stop it. There was a severe drought last year. Is that something that the fire department or the city is going to maybe make that decision a little bit earlier as opposed to what happened last year? Let me start by saying the Fort Worth Fourth is certainly a partner of ours and a separate entity and event of ours. However, we are in close contact with them and we are the ones that made the determination last year to end the fireworks show. We are taking safety precautions, but a larger message there is that we do encourage our residents to be able to go to professional fireworks shows as opposed to buying their own fireworks and setting those off, particularly within the city limits. Do you have anything to add? Since the conclusion of last year's event, which did draw a lot of attention, we immediately started talking about pre-planning and looking at different options, and that's all ongoing still right now. We're still looking at different things and trying to avoid that situation. Obviously, if we get into drought conditions, things get extreme and they can be hard to manage, but we're certainly aware of it. We're working with our partners over there and expect to get everything put together. Every year, the hospitals will do demonstrations of this is how dangerous fireworks can be. Are people surprised that the fireworks they keep at their house, those good cause, those injuries that you're talking about? I've been a part of those demonstrations. I can't say what they are at the time. That's the intent. We're trying to get your attention and say, look, this is dangerous. Unfortunately, what gets their attention is when a loved one is impacted, when it's not a demonstration, and now we have to deal with the catastrophic outcomes of the illegal fireworks. I would say that's the thing we want to avoid, and that's what we're hoping to do with the demonstrations. Unfortunately, the most significant impacts are the ones that stay the most. What did you like talking about? I know for little kids, they like to do the sparkles. Sparklers? They're sparklers. Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about that because people think that they're not dangerous, but they really are. So I'm going to give you some of my high school signs here. I can't give you the facts. One, sparklers are illegal. They're fireworks. They are. The other thing is they burn as hot or hotter than any other pyrotechnic you're looking at out there, and we're putting them in the hands of a three-year-old, and I don't mean to keep reference back to Mad, but we live in the medical world, and we see the injuries every single year. Even when you think the sparkler's out, especially the little kids, oh, there's nothing there. I'm going to go pick up that fun thing somebody was just playing with, and now we're responding to a burn injury every single year. So, yeah, and so they're illegal, just like every other firework. I don't know if I did too much with those two, but it's getting right now that like a sparkler, if you throw it on the ground, it could start a fire. Do you guys want to have them respond to you? Yeah, we don't even have to be in drought conditions. When things dry out or when the temperature heats up, any of those fireworks are going to be problematic for grass fires and for structure fires, and it's all something we have to build into the planning response, which is why we have an entire task force dedicated to fireworks because we need those front-line responders able to respond to the predictable fires that are going to outbreak. Keep going. Well, with the heat happening in your fire department, if there's a fire, your men are also exposed to heat exhaustion, heat strokes. What precautions are you taking for your department or for the city as far as taking care of your personnel? Okay, so I will say proudly it's men and women. We really diversify our employee field, but to your point, it's valid, but it's something that we're well aware of. Our folks in operations these summers come. I will say the last week has felt a little worse than usual. It came on us pretty hard with the humidity, but we're used to hydration. We've got healthcare professionals that help us navigate the best ways to be sure we're taking care of ourselves, trying to stay injury-free, and when the weather gets where it's at right now, everybody recognizes resources are going to be critical. So when we have a big event that's going to start taxing our folks, we get more people out there, and we all do that. One of the things we wanted to talk about also are kids and hot cars. Texas leads the nation in kids and hot car deaths. We've already responded to two calls so far this summer where kids have been left in a hot car. Try and do some things that will remind you when you get to your destination that there's a child in the back of the car. Some of the electronic apps, I know Waze and Google Maps will have a reminder when you get to your destination, newer cars have a reminder, but if you don't have those things available or for a routine trip, the biggest thing that we've heard helps new parents especially is when the car seat is in the car and your kid's not there, put a stuffed animal in the car seat all the time. That way, when you have your kid in the car seat, the stuffed animal's in the front seat with you. When you arrive at your destination and you ask, why is Mr. Binky here in the front seat? You'll remember, oh, it's because my one month old is in the back seat and we hear from people all the time, how could someone leave their child? Many cases are brand new parents, they are sleep deprived, they are harried, and it just happens. The second most common way that we have a child locked in a hot vehicle is when the child gets into the vehicle without the parents knowing. So please lock your cars whenever you're not in it. We had a very sad case last year where a three-year-old got into a vehicle, locked the door, and suffered significant heat-related illness after being in the vehicle for an hour and the parents didn't even know. So lock your car when you're at home. Doing those two things will make a big difference and hopefully we won't have any more this summer. Great question. Thank you. Volunteers, donations, help from the public. Is there anything that the public can do to help at this point? Do you have any demand for waters, ice, coolers? Always. So the question's about our homeless shelters that we partner with and what they rely on as far as funding and volunteers. So we partner with a lot of these nonprofits in the area, so they always need money. Year-round for these efforts, especially during the summer months and the winter months, we've had catastrophic times that people who are experiencing homelessness have to live through. So anything people can do, contact your local homeless shelter and see what they are in need for. So not often times do they need water bottles, they're usually stocked, but they do need money to go buy more. Do you guys do more outreach to warm people that it's going to be getting hot and make sure they know what their options are and also that there's going to be danger? Absolutely. As far as outreach goes, we have street teams that go beyond Lancaster to meet with these people who are experiencing homelessness. They are in contact with them throughout the year. They supply them with bottled water during these hot temperature days and assess them for any heat-related or other illnesses as well. So we keep in close contact with our residents who are experiencing homelessness throughout the year. So we want to make sure everyone is doing well, especially when it gets so hot out there. I know Dallas supplies like a wall, a window, air conditioners. Is the city of Portland doing anything like that? I think, again, we are going to reiterate that if our facilities are open and able to host you to please come to them, whether it's just being in the lobby, whether it's a city hall building such as this, they are open for folks to be able to come to to cool down. Immediately off the top of my head, I'm not aware of any particular program that might provide AC cooling. Well, again, that's a term that we don't particularly use in Fort Worth. Every facility that it's open and open to the public has its air conditioning on and is available. So as opposed to three or four may be scattered throughout the city that may be difficult to get to. If you have one closest to your home and it is open to the public, please go there to be able to cool. I'd like to go ahead and wrap up now. And as you can see, it's a multi-departmental effort, even effort by some of those departments that we didn't hear from today. And so we thank all of our partners with that. Again, any of our speakers would be available for one-on-ones if they're needed. We appreciate our media for getting out our messaging. And thank you for joining us today.