Alejandra Hernandez prepares to deliver a bag of donated clothes to agricultural workers in Hammett, Idaho. The clothes are intended to help the farmworkers deal with the record-breaking high temperatures in Idaho this summer. Hernandez is one of the founders of Latinx Farmworkers of Southern Idaho, part of the Idaho Immigrant Resource Alliance, which raises money to buy cooling and hydrating items for farmworkers. (Kyle Green/InvestigateWest)
This story was originally published by InvestigateWest on Aug. 15, 2024.
In a historic heatwave that covered the Pacific Northwest in June 2021, two workers died.
Sebastian Francisco Perez, a 38-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, collapsed in 100-degree heat while moving irrigation lines outside at a farm and nursery in St. Paul, Oregon. Just 500 miles away, a few days later, Ian Booth, a 33-year-old Idahoan working on a landscaping crew near Lewiston died of cardiac arrest from heat exposure.
Perez’s death in Oregon provoked quick action from Oregon’s governor and lawmakers, who implemented stricter rules for employers during extreme heat, including requirements for frequent breaks, and allocated state money to a relief fund for employees who miss work because of heat illnesses or smoke.