Heat taxes power and patience

Temperatures hit 100 degrees in some parts of the state yesterday, taxing emergency medical crews, slowing public transportation, and forcing the region's power grid to generate a record amount of electricity.

In Fitchburg, where some 10,000 fans attended an outdoor concert as the mercury reached triple digits, paramedics took about 65 people to local hospitals. More than 19,000 NStar customers scattered across Eastern Massachusetts lost power for parts of yesterday. Then, after some severe storms rolled through last evening, about 44,000 National Grid customers, including 17,000 on the South Shore, were without power.

And all who ventured beyond their air-conditioned cocoons sweltered.

At 4 p.m., the official temperature in Boston peaked at 98 degrees, shy of the record of 102 degrees set in 1975 but the hottest since 2002. It felt like 107 degrees, according to the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, recorded by the National Weather Service.

``I feel hot and queasy," said Jean Grant, 40, of Chelsea, as paramedics wheeled her to an ambulance that would take her from the Downtown Crossing T station to Massachusetts General Hospital. ``This happened yesterday, too. I shouldn't be out."

She was one of at least 25 people taken to hospitals by 9 p.m. in Boston, 12 more than for all of Tuesday, Emergency Medical Services officials said. They said that patients ranged in age from 2 to 78, and that ambulances had responded to at least 34 calls for heat-related emergencies.

Riding the streets yesterday in an EMS response truck, supervisor Scott Beers said the four heat-related calls he responded to were more than he had handled all year. He traveled with a cooler filled with bottles of cold water and offered them to ambulance and fire crews answering heat-related calls.

``I go through about five water bottles a day myself," Beers said.

The region's transportation and power systems were also strained in the oppressive heat.

The demand for electricity to power air conditioners was so steep that officials at ISO New England, an independent company in Holyoke that operates the power grid throughout New England, appealed for residents to conserve electricity and offered large companies cash to reduce their use during the afternoon. Last night, ISO New England officials said the region's electricity use peaked at 28,021 megawatts at 2 p.m., 600 megawatts more than the all-time record set on Tuesday.

``We're in a very tight supply situation," said Ken McDonnell, an ISO New England spokesman. ``The heat puts real stress on the system."

Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said that at least one other person required medical attention in the subway yesterday for a heat-related complaint. He said 30 additional large fans were placed in the subway system, which lacks air conditioning.

The heat also slowed subway and commuter trains, as the T imposed speed limits to prevent trains from derailing over rails that expand in the heat. The Red Line, he said, was limited to 10 miles per hour, instead of the usual 30 miles per hour, over the Longfellow Bridge, and Green Line trains were under similar limits. Speed limits for commuter rail trains were reduced from 60 to 40 miles per hour on a portion of the Haverhill line, as well as between Fitchburg and Ayer.

It wasn't much better on the streets.

Construction foreman Russell Souza spent nearly two hours yesterday morning finishing the black rubber roof on a new South End condominium.

``Even with pants on, to kneel down, it's hot, like you're touching your hands against a kettle of boiling water," said Souza, 36, sweating beneath his hard hat.

Business picked up for Richard Forziati, a cab driver cruising near downtown. ``People were jumping in," he said. ``Normally they would walk to work. But people in suits, if you walk three blocks you need a shower."

At Fenway Park, where the Red Sox began playing the Indians after 7 p.m., 108 people at last night's Red Sox game sought medical attention because of the heat, up from 101 people Tuesday night, said John Blake, a Red Sox spokesman. The team set up at least seven water stations and three misting stations for fans to cool off.

``It was amazing, like going through a water park," said Rohry Flood, 24, of Maryland, as he walked through a misting station.

The US Environmental Protection Agency reported unhealthy air quality throughout the region, with ground-level ozone and elevated levels of fine-particle pollution. Ozone is produced when heat and sunlight cook vehicle exhaust, and it contributes to smog.

``We saw air that was unhealthy for infants, the elderly, anyone with sensitive respiratory conditions, particularly those with asthma," said David Deegan, a spokesman in the agency's New England office.

Tenitha Lockett of Somerville suffered repeated asthma attacks over several hours yesterday after the power went out in her apartment.

The humidity forced her to use her inhaler five times in the past two days.

``I actually felt like I was melting into the ground," she said.

Few ventured to the Franklin Park Zoo, where the animals that could, swam, and others were treated to cold snacks: fruit Popsicles for the lemurs, frozen crickets for the cotton-top tamarins, and frozen plantains for the gorillas.

``We give them treats when it is this hot," said zoo spokeswoman Melissa Grossenbacher. ``We like to do a little something extra."

Relief for animals and humans alike will probably not come until tomorrow, when highs are expected in the 80s with lower humidity. The high-pressure system pushing hot air over New England will keep temperatures in the 90s today, with a heat advisory in effect until 5 p.m.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino met with emergency officials yesterday morning, and the city made more than 150,000 automated calls to residents over the day, warning them to drink plenty of water and stay in a cool place, city officials said.

Scott Salman, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department, said the only heat-related incident his department dealt with was a small fire resulting from the melting of wires in a manhole on Harvard Avenue in Allston.

``I think most people took the right precautions," he said. ``I didn't see many people on the streets."

Residents flocked to community pools, hovered around air conditioners, and feasted on Popsicles.

Staff at the Agassiz Community Center in Jamaica Plain said they filled the water cooler five times, far more than usual. A few blocks away, the Curtis Hall Community Center kept extra lifeguards on duty to accommodate more swimmers than usual.

``The pool has been packed all day," said Warren Williams, the center's assistant coordinator.

Reggie Bell ate Popsicles on the front porch of his home on South Street in Jamaica Plain to escape the heat of his third-floor apartment. Even with several fans running, the 54-year-old landscaper, who took the past two days off because of the weather, said the heat was unbearable.

``It's brutal," he said. ``This is the hottest it's been in years. We're just not used to this heat."

Globe correspondents Ari Bloomekatz, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Shawntaye Hopkins, and Yuxing Zheng contributed to this report.