'There's No Hiding From The Sun': Heatwave Especially Tough For Those Working Outdoors
RADNOR, Pa. (CBS) -- The first heatwave of 2021 has arrived. People all over the area are looking for ways to beat the heat. Conditions like these are especially tough for those who make their living outdoors.
When the forecast showed another 90 on the screen, it was time to find hot jobs. Workers in the heat, the kind where it's so hot...
"You can drink water all day and not even go to the bathroom once because it just keeps coming out of you," said Jim O'Hagan with James O'Hagan Roofing.
That's pretty hot. So Eyewitness News spent part of this muggy Monday with some roofers.
O'Hagan said Kate Bilo's forecast for the rest of the week seemed so unstable with possible rain and storms they weren't even going to mess with ripping off shingles.
So they focused on gutters and staying hydrated.
"There's no hiding from the sun. You just gotta do what you gotta do -- put a wet rag on your head, things like that," O'Hagan said.
Firefighting is naturally a heat-related job.
Radnor crews were assisting Newtown Township Monday afternoon at a two-alarm house fire on Bryn Mawr Avenue.
The high temperatures only raise awareness to be alert to possible warning signs of heat exhaustion.
"If you start exhibiting signs of fatigue or maybe you're not making the clearest decisions at the time, guys recognize that there may be an issue and make sure you get out," Radnor Township Fire Department Chief Joseph Maguire said.
Best advice from crews who work in the most brutal of conditions — drink up and think of cooler days.
"I would say grin and bear it because in the end, I'm still getting a workout from it, I'm still sweating. It seems like in the end it's hard work. I feel good at the end of the day," roofer Garrett Wildgust said.
