As a new record temperature of 102 degrees entered the Dayton record books Thursday, local officials declared a heat warning and opened cooling centers to provide relief.

Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County announced that a “Public Health Heat Warning” will remain in effect until further notice as highs are expected to remain above 90 degrees through the weekend.

“I have drunk three gallons of water today to stay cool – because one of those spray fans aren’t going to work,” said Luke Jenkins of Kettering who was hanging by the pool at the Stonebridge Apartments in Beavercreek after working outdoors all day.

“The weather is so hot, and it would be nice to have a cool breeze, but there is not,” said fellow pool-goer Chrissy Cowan of Beavercreek.

The official high temperature of 102 degrees was recorded at Dayton International Airport Thursday at 5 p.m. It surpasses the old record of 101 degrees for June 28 and ties the all-time record for the hottest day in June.

But temperature readings from sensors across the region paint a more accurate picture of what it felt like to live and work in southwest Ohio on Thursday.

According to a sensor at Kings Island in Mason, people walking the paved streets beneath the Diamondback experienced an air temperature of 113 degrees. Those in Darke County and points north may have felt temperatures ranging from 104 to 106 degrees. National Weather Service sensors recorded a high temperature of 103 degrees at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport.

In Butler and Warren counties, observed temperatures ranged from 99 degrees in Oxford and 100 degrees in Hamilton to 105 degrees in Lebanon and Fairfield.

The heat combined with windy, dry conditions to fuel several grass fires Thursday afternoon including one along southbound Interstate 75 in West Carrollton that briefly backed up traffic on the highway. Police said a truck lost its tire which caught the grass and a tree along the road on fire.

Miami Valley Hospital spokeswoman Nancy Thickel said doctors treated two patients for heat-related illnesses Thursday. Kettering Health Network’s five local emergency rooms treated a total of six patients, one of whom passed out while shopping and one who was overcome by the heat in their home with no air conditioner, according to spokeswoman Elizabeth Long.

Animals were susceptible to the extreme heat as well. The Montgomery County Animal Resource Center was called to a home on Wroe Avenue in Dayton and found one dog in distress and one dog that had died of possible heat stroke.

ARC Director Mark Kumpf said the dogs’ owner left the animals in the back yard at about 7:30 a.m. with food and water, but had not returned at 4 p.m.

“The temperature in the back yard where the animal was deceased was over 115 degrees,” Kumpf said. “The dog may well have been in the shade when they left, but the sun doesn’t stay in one place all day.”

Another dog in distress was brought in to the Humane Society of Greater Dayton Thursday after being found in a cage in an abandoned home.

 “It’s very important  to keep your animals hydrated and keep them in a temperature controlled environment,” said Kristy Warren, marketing director for the humane society.

Some area pools and community centers reported an increase in patronage Thursday as parents sought out ways to keep the kids cool and entertained.

“Definitely the traffic of patrons has been up for us,” said Josh Sullenberger, director of the Huber Heights YMCA, which runs the new Kroger Aquatic Center.

“We’re absolutely maxed out,” at the Booker T. Washington Community Center in Hamilton, according to Director Regina Johnson Phillips.

The Vandalia Recreation Center was busy after the city’s Parks and Recreation Department decided to cancel all outdoor activities for the day.

“When that heat index goes over 100 degrees, we go ahead and cancel them,” said Communications Manager Rich Hopkins.

The City of Dayton’s Northwest Recreation Center on Princeton Avenue was forced to close after a transformer blew overnight.  The center is expected to reopen Friday morning, but the pool may be closed until Monday.

As a result, day camps and other activities were shifted to other city centers including the Greater Dayton Recreation Center on West Third Street.

“There has been an increase of about 125 people,” said Carl Lenoir, recreation supervisor. “It has been full all day, and then at five o’clock there was a rush for the pool.” Those who couldn’t escape the outdoors tried to avoid the hottest part of the day.

“We just started early so we could be done by about noon,” said Eric Jones of A&E Home Services, who had his roofing crew get to work on a house in Troy before dawn so they could keep cool. “It’s probably closer to 150 degrees up there. Plus you start tearing up the material because it’s too gooey and mushy.”

“You take a few more breaks, and if you need to you go in the shade, but we work through it,” said Shane Lipps, one of the Belgray, Inc. workers laying sidewalk in downtown Dayton as part of the Patterson Boulevard Canal Parkway project.

The area remains under a heat advisory through 8 p.m. Friday, with Montgomery County under an excessive heat warning because the heat index is expected to stay above 100 degrees through Friday evening.

Simpson is forecasting a high of 97 degrees on Friday with increased humidity. There is a chance an isolated thunderstorm in the evening and into overnight. Highs in the mid-90s are expected through Monday with scattered thunderstorms possible each day.

Public officials have designated several buildings for use as cooling centers. Residents can seek relief from the heat today in the following buildings:

Montgomery County

 * Greater Dayton Recreation Center, 2021 W. Third St. (6 a.m. to 8 p.m.)

 * Lohrey Recreation Center and Belmont Pool, 2366 Glenarm Ave. (6 a.m. to 8 p.m.)

 * Kettering Recreation Center, 2600 Glenngary Drive (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

 * Moraine Payne Recreation Center, 3800 Main St. (closes at 9 p.m.)

 * Moraine Civic Center, 3050 Kreitzer Road (closes at 8 p.m.)

 *Vandalia Recreation Center, 1111 Stonequarry Road (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

Dayton RTA transit centers

 Open during normal business hours as cooling centers.

 * South, 2730 Lyons Road

 * North, 2075 Shiloh Springs Road

* West, Westown Shopping Center

* East, Eastown Shopping Center

 * Downtown, Wright Stop Plaza, 4 S. Main St.

Greene County cooling centers

 *All public libraries 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

* Beavercreek Senior Center at 3868 Dayton-Xenia Road 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* The Golden Age Senior Center at 130 E. Church St. in Xenia

Darke County

The stations will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today

 * Greenville Library, 520 Sycamore St., Greenville

* Worch Library, 790 S. Center, Versailles

* New Madison Library, 142 S Main St., New Madison

* Arcanum Library, 101 North St., Arcanum

* Greenville YMCA, 301 Wagner Ave., Greenville

 *Versailles YMCA, 10242 Versailles-Southeastern Road, Versailles

 * Shawnee Prairie Nature Center, Ohio 502, Greenville