Feeling the heat: Outdoor worker try to stay cool on sweltering days
Garrett Neese
The near triple-digit temperatures have sent many people scrambling indoors to enjoy the comforts of AC.
But even in broiling heat, there are still culverts that have to be replaced, water leaks that need to be repaired, or customers who desperately want a lemonade.
“We provide a service that has to be done regardless of the weather,” said Dave Faddis, an operations supervisor for Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority. “We’re out here when it’s -5 or we’re out here when it’s 100.”
It was much, much closer to the latter Tuesday.
The National Weather Service station in Waynesburg put the high at 93 shortly before 4 p.m. — which, combined with 45% humidity, felt like 100. The NWS’s heat advisory for the area lasts until 8 p.m. today.
Workers said it was important to take breaks and drink plenty of fluids.
Sam Kerlin, superintendent for Advanced Builders out of Belle Vernon, was overseeing excavation ahead of culvert replacement on Route 21 and Toll Gate Run Road near Waynesburg.
He anticipated his six-person crew would wind up going through two cases of water during the workday.
“This time of year, you need to drink water, or you will cramp after an hour-and-a-half ride,” he said.
While the excavators may be air-conditioned nowadays, the motors still ensure whoever’s driving it feels plenty of heat, Kerlin said.
His workers take a break about every 90 minutes, he said. Shortening the 10-hour day wasn’t an opinion; a geologist was coming in Wednesday to look at the rock at the bottom.
While shifts that long aren’t fun when it gets above 90, “a three-day weekend is always nice, too,” he said.
In light of the heat, the Greene County Water Park brought in extra lifeguards Tuesday, allowing them to work for half an hour, then take a half-hour break, said co-head lifeguard Mya Smith.
During their time in the sun, lifeguards are also resupplied with water, sunscreen — “and popsicles from the freezer,” said co-head lifeguard Jaden Tretinik.
Although they’re looking out for the safety of people in the pool, most lifeguards don’t spend much time in it during the day. The exceptions are for whoever’s overseeing the slide, who has to be ready to step in when smaller children get nervous, Smith said.
“Everywhere else, it’s pretty rare that we have to jump in,” she said.
Like the lifeguards inside, Bobby Thompson was sacrificing to keep other people cool. The co-owner of PA Poppers in Carmichaels, he was parked outside selling kettle corn — and more importantly Tuesday, lemonade.
Despite an air conditioner and a fan, “it’s not that cool in here,” he said.
It promised to be even hotter for his next stop, a concert at the Lions Club Park in Waynesburg Tuesday night, he said.
He was using a wet paper towel to keep his face cool. And like everyone, he was drinking fluids — cold water, and occasionally some of his own product.
“A little bit ago, I had a cherry lemonade,” he said.
Faddis estimated he would drink a gallon of water Tuesday, plus the Gatorade he bought on the way over to fix a leak on Richhill Street; backhoe operator Alan Yanak had also supplemented his original six bottles of water with two more.
Temperatures this high aren’t unusual in the summer, but the speed with which things progressed from cool, rainy weather was, Faddis said.
Though the temperatures might drop later in the week to merely hot, Faddis could be spending even more time outside.
“Once it shoots up and that warmer water starts traveling through the system, you’ll see more (waterline) breaks,” he said.