Hot, harried and hopeless, Inland residents slept on tile floors, dunked themselves in wading pools, stood under cold showers and even rented air-conditioned hotel rooms as a despised heat wave dragged on Tuesday.

In San Bernardino, firefighters ordered the evacuation of 49 residents, including six children, from the eight-story Meadowbrook Park & Tower Apartments, where the air conditioning had failed.

They said the extreme temperatures in the rooms created a health risk for residents with health problems or young children.

Bonnie Miller, 59, who says she has epilepsy and a heart condition, said it was 90 degrees in her apartment. She has been spending much of her time laying in bed, directly in front of a fan.

The air conditioning had failed except for the lobby on July 16, and some residents slept on lobby couches or its tile floor to escape the heat.

Authorities confirmed at least one additional heat-related Inland death on Tuesday, an 84-year-old man in Anza. Riverside County sheriff's deputies had no further details.

The death of a 55-year-old Riverside man was also under investigation, said sheriff's Cpl. Dennis Gutierrez.

The San Bernardino County coroner's office said Monday that four deaths were under investigation as heat-related. There were no additional reports Tuesday.

Statewide, 38 deaths were under investigation.

At least 15 Inland cities including Riverside, San Bernardino, Corona, Moreno Valley and Murrieta had power outages of various sizes and lengths.

Power companies were overwhelmed, and so were residents waiting for them. Many said a call to Southern California Edison only got a taped message. "It is a fluid situation and it changes from minute to minute," said Edison spokesman Tom Boyd.

Temperatures went above 100degrees in several areas for the past 10 days. Humidity rose after dark, adding to the misery.

"It's just not cooling down at all at night," said Sharon Prentiss, 47, of Highland. "We have had the air conditioner on, plus fans, all night."

Stores were short on ice and residents were short on sleep.

"It literally makes you where you can't think right," said Debbie Smith, 46, a resident of the Old Plantation Mobile Home Park in Rubidoux, where some residents went without power for nearly 48 hours beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday.

She and her brother Bill, 56, spent two sweaty, sleepless nights before the power returned Monday afternoon. A sister spent the first night with them.

They coped by sitting outside in lawn chairs with wet towels draped around themselves and their listless 2-year-old black dachshund, Misty. They frequently hosed down the driveway and took cold showers.

"I actually went out and cranked up the car in the driveway so I could get the air blowing on me," said Smith, as she sat in her cooled living room on Tuesday, a fan blowing next to her.

Reggie Wadlington's family stayed in a hotel Sunday night as power was down along Manzanita Street in Murrieta from Saturday evening to Monday afternoon.

After spending the night in his sweltering home Saturday, Wadlington, his wife and two children spent about $220 for a hotel room and also rented a room for their neighbor, who also lost power.

"We had to get out; it was too unbearable to stay any longer," Wadlington said. "Sleep was minimal and we couldn't open the windows because it was too hot."

Wadlington's family took cold showers inside the house while some neighbors slept on their patios, he said. He added that when he returned Monday, most of the food in his refrigerator had spoiled.

"There was no communication - no one came by to check or tell us anything," Wadlington said.

After the expense of the hotel room and lost groceries, Wadlington said he would seek reimbursement from the power company.

There seemed to be no chance for intervention in the weather, either.

Forecasters said there will be little change until Friday in the Southwest high-pressure system that has clamped the area in a cycle of high heat and humidity, with afternoon lightning storms in the mountains and deserts.

The cycle of heat and humidity was too much for Florence Smith, 80, of Lake Elsinore. She had cuts and scrapes on her legs from spending part of Saturday night dozing and falling over on her concrete front step, where she moved after the electricity went out in her home.

The power was eventually restored, but Smith only has fans - no air conditioning - to fight the heat.

Smith, who is diabetic and has a heart condition, said she has used a backyard pool to cool off and used a dial-a-ride program to visit the Lake Elsinore Senior Center on Monday. It has been designated a "cool center" for people to retreat.

"I can't go along the way I'm going," Smith said on Tuesday. "I can't even lay down - it's too hot. The perspiration is running off my body."

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Staff writers Sandra Baltazar Martnez, Imran Ghori, David Raclin, Sharon McNary and Joyce Tse contributed to this report

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FOOD SAFETY TIPS

Sooner or later, every home has a power outage. Whatever the cause, dealing with the food involved when the unit is off requires certain steps to ensure the safety of your food:

* You may safely re-freeze some foods if they still contain ice crystals or if they have been kept at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below for no more than two days.

* If the temperature is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, throw food away. Foods that cannot be re-frozen but are safe to use may be canned immediately.

Symptoms of foodborne illness may include:

* Nausea

* Vomiting

* Stomach cramps

* Diarrhea

These symptoms can appear from four hours to 96 hours after eating suspect food.

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STICKY HOT: Four weather factors are contributing to the intense daytime and nighttime heat in the Inland area.

(1) Heat causes rain from high clouds to evaporate before it can reach the ground, increasing moisture content in the air.

(2) A high-pressure dome based over northeast Arizona is keeping the temperature high in Southern California.

(3) Monsoonal moisture from Baja California brings high humidity.

(4) Weak onshore breeze carries little cool air.

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Muggy nights

Factors closer to the ground also add to the humidity, making nights and early mornings hot and muggy.

Sprinklers

Sprinklers going off at sunrise add to the moisture in the air.

Plants

In hot weather, plants protect against dehydration during the day by shutting down. At night they release stored moisture from their leaves, adding to the humidity in the air.

High dew point

A higher dew point indicates more moisture present in the air.

Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. In summer, most people are uncomfortable when the dew point goes above 65 degrees. Dew points above 70 degrees cause very muggy conditions.

SOURCE: WESTERN REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER

CHRIS RAMOS/THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE