When it’s this hot out, people will do almost anything to cool off — including duking it out over a shop’s last air conditioner.

Customers at Ace Hardware in Lakewood overheated amid a record-tying run of five consecutive days of temperatures that hit at least 100 degrees.

“I almost had two people come to blows the other day as they both wanted the last portable evaporative cooler we had,” owner Jim Hassig said.

People trying to beat the heat have purchased what they can, quadrupling sales of cooling products and leaving shelves bare in Hassig’s store.

“Air conditioners are gone. Misters are gone. Hoses are gone,” he said.

Ace is unable to keep up with demand, and for good reason: Not only is the heat miserable — it’s making people sick.

“We are seeing more heat syncope, which means more heat exhaustion, dehydration, cramps and heat stroke,” said Denver Health’s director of emergency medicine, Dr. Christopher Colwell.

When temperatures are hotter than Hades — the official high in Denver on Tuesday was 105 degrees, and it was still 100 degrees at 5:15 p.m. — people need to pay attention to how much time they’re spending outdoors and how much water they’re drinking, Colwell said.

“Shade is one thing, but when it’s this hot out, you need to cool off entirely,” he said, “which means finding a location that is climate controlled.”

No AC? Cool off at the mall or the movie theater, Colwell suggested.

Tuesday’s high was a record for the date and tied the hottest day ever recorded for the second consecutive day. It was 102 on Sunday, 104 on Saturday and 102 on Friday. The National Weather Service has forecast highs in the 90s through Tuesday.

The long, hot streak caused trouble for commuters Tuesday afternoon, when the Colorado Department of Transportation had to close the ramp from northbound Interstate 25 to westbound C-470 because an expansion joint had popped up and was sticking out of the ramp.

The sizzling temperatures also tested the mettle of the power grid, causing transformers to pop and blackouts across the Front Range. To cope with the outages, Xcel Energy added six extra construction crews to the 21 already working Tuesday. Most of the repairs were for transformers that could not handle the heavy demand. “It’s like putting too many plugs into a wall socket,” Xcel spokesman Gabriel Romero said.

On Monday, demand reached 6,910 megawatts. The all-time highest load demand was 6,946 megawatts on July 24, 2007.

All this heat barely a week into summer has health-care practitioners worried.

“We are afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Colwell said. “Incredibly hot days like these in a row are very dangerous.”

Those at the greatest risk for the most severe heat-related illnesses are seniors and the homeless, officials said.

Wearing layers of clothes while carrying heavy bags full of belongings, the homeless population has few options for cooling off and is suffering, Denver Rescue Mission officials said.

“We are considering opening the shelter during the day, like we do in the winter, so people can get out of the heat,” rescue mission spokeswoman Alexxa Gagner said.

Currently, the St. Francis Center is open for those in need of cooling off, but should it reach capacity, the Denver Rescue Mission may open, she said.

“Heat like this really makes it dangerous for those out in the sun all day, especially if they already have a medical condition,” Gagner said. “The shelter is air conditioned, so we could have the TV on and offer some snacks.”

In addition to the heat, hospitals are also seeing more patients with respiratory issues due to the multiple fires burning in the state.

“From severe to those with minor respiratory issues who need more medication, it’s getting bad,” said Dr. Christopher Ott, medical director for St. Anthony Hospital’s emergency services.

Like Colwell, Ott said he fears it is going to get worse before it gets better.

“If ash starts falling in the city, like it did with Hayman,” Ott said, “it will be disastrous for people with structural lung disease.”