Firefighters, police officers, and construction crews can't get inside to cool off
SYRACUSE -- Fighting fires is tough business especially when it gets this hot.
Syracuse Fire Chief Ed Kurtz says when it gets this hot out, the department rotates firefighting teams to make sure they don't get overcome by the heat.
"We have to get our guys out. We have to get them out of there get them cooled down," he says.
Staying cool is also a challenge for road crews. Rich Pember, foreman for a road crew paving Bridge Street, says the temperature near the pavement can be well over 100 degrees.
"It is first thing in the morning and sweat is really dripping off of you. You're not even really working yet and it's coming right off you," he says.
To help his crews stay cool, Pember says he gives them some simple advice. "Go at a nice moderate pace. If you get into trouble, go get iced down, so you can cool down."
To help his men cool down, Captain Elton Davis, safety officer with the Syracuse Fire Department, tells them to drink lots of fluids.
"You never know when you might find yourself out here for an extended period of time. So we try to enforce drinking a lot of water throughout the day to make sure when we get out here to prevent heat exhaustion or dehydration to make sure those kinds of things don't happen," he says.
How do you stay cool in this weather? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts with us.
