The first brutal heat wave of the season owns just about all of Southern California, with heat advisories and warnings blanketing the region, save for the coastline.

Temperatures soared into triple digits across inland valleys and surpassed 120 in the lower desert.

In notoriously hot Death Valley National Park, the mercury was expected to hit 126.

In Long Beach, meanwhile, the temperature topped out at a comfortable 81 degrees.

Gonzalo Medina, chief of marine safety for the Long Beach Fire Department, said the citys seven miles of beaches have been packed this week.

Our lifeguards have been busy. And they have been making rescues, Medina said. This is what they live for. Youre not going to hear many lifeguards complain about a heat wave.

And the timing was near perfect. Medina said the city began staffing every tower on the waterfront with its 150 lifeguards last Saturday.

All along the coast, Tuesday was just another sunny day to go for a run at the beach or take a walk in the South Bay, where many residents dont have air conditioning.

The temperature in El Segundo, just south of Los Angeles International Airport, was a mere 69 degrees at 1:30 p.m.

El Segundo real estate agent Bill Ruane said he pulled over on Grand Avenue to send a text message and watched people walking in shorts and sun hats.

Its very breezy and very cool, he said. Ive had AC at my house for the last 11 years and probably can count 10 times Ive turned it on. That was probably to make sure it worked.

For many Southern Californians, however, there wasnt anything fun or exciting about the heat. And they scrambled to find ways to beat it.

Some flocked to beaches and pools. Others bounced between air-conditioned cars and buildings. Still others drove to dozens of cooling centers that agencies have opened across the region.

Fontana, for example, saw a sharp surge in the number of people seeking respite at the citys five cooling centers, said Martha Guzman-Hurtado, a city spokeswoman.

In Riverside, Danny Anguiano, a 29-year-old engineer, said air conditioning, pure and simple, is how he copes.

Headed for his car, Anguiano said he bounces from his air-conditioned home to his air-conditioned compact to his air-conditioned office. And when its time for fun, he makes a point of going to an air-conditioned restaurant or an air-conditioned movie theater.

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Its got to be cool, he said.

UC Riverside microbiology student Fabian Gonzalez cant do that. Hes taking summer school. And he walks to class.

So Gonzalez wears a T-shirt and shorts, and lugs around a 32-ounce sports drink.

Thats the most comfortable way of surviving the heat, he said.

Some people embrace the heat. Thats exactly what 49-year-old Myra Sorenson of Riverside and her children, along with a family friend, were doing Tuesday afternoon at Riversides University Village.

They gathered outside, though in the shade, to eat warm doughnuts with ice cream in the middle.

You roll with it, Sorenson said. You enjoy life. You deal with things as they come.

Sure, people complain about the heat.

But I find that some people complain no matter what, she said.

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Beaches offer relief from heat wave scorching inland valleys - Long Beach Press Telegram