KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — As we continue to see rising temperatures in Knoxville, people who work outside are left sweltering in the summer sun. Employees said there's lots of work to be done despite the heat.
“Right now, conditions are simply this: They're brutal,” Knoxville Fire Department Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks said. “We're sweating inside that gear. We're wearing an extra 45 to 50 pounds of equipment. And on top of that, we're going inside of a fire that could be up to five or 600 degrees, even 1,000 degrees sometimes.”
To combat those extreme conditions, Wilbanks said hydrating is a priority both before, during and after a shift.
Wilbanks and his team aren’t the only ones.
“Down here, the temperature is about 94, 95 [degrees]. But up on top of that roof, that could be 140, 130,” David Barnett, owner of Barnett Roofing, explained.
Barnett said his crew has learned to switch out with one another during shifts so they’re not getting overheated up on the roof.
“That's when the guys start passing out, they can fall,” Barnett said. “They're all tethered on harnesses on ropes just in case something like that happens. But with that extreme heat up there, if they're up there for more than an hour or two hours, it’s extremely hot.”
Even outside of falling, extreme temperatures can be dangerous as it is. Wilbanks said that’s why his department takes the heat seriously.
“We can hurt or kill somebody. It's just that simple,” he elaborated. “The heat is dangerous. You can cause strokes, you can do a lot of different things that can long-term physically debilitate somebody, so we want to be very careful.”
To keep workers safe, Barnett said his company will provide tents for employees to find shade under.
Although Jeffrey Combs isn’t on the roof, he said working on the roof as a lead technician for Aire Serve of Knoxville can be difficult.
“Definitely, you can tell it's a heat wave the second you walk in the attic space, it's usually like 30 degrees warmer,” Combs said. “You just got to really understand your body and understand that you do need to drink water periodically because it's just leaving your body as fast as you're drinking it.”
It’s a lesson that Malouchos Konstantinos learned quickly working in a food truck that reaches temperatures over 100 degrees.
“Drinking water,” the Gus & Son Greek Grill owner said about his main precaution.
The Director of Marketing and Communications for Zoo Knoxville Tina Rolen said the hot weather makes for extra precautions at the zoo.
“We're very vigilant,” Rolen said. “Our rangers are constantly patrolling the park throughout the day to make sure that we don't have any guests or staff that are in distress.”
With water misters for guests, ice packs and shade for staff and popsicles for the animals, Rolen said the zoo is constantly finding ways to beat the heat.
“When the weather is warm and the animals tend to slow down when it gets warmer, we have put in place a series of animal encounters every hour on the hour throughout the day," she said. "So you can move through the park and still have amazing animal encounters. With our keeper staff, you're going to learn about the animals’ names, they're going to get some enrichment, they're going to be engaged with that keeper.”
Even if you're not outside for work, Wilbanks said it's still important to take precautions to protect yourself.
“It's hard to get acclimatized to this kind of heat and humidity. It's extremely difficult,” he said. “We just talk about common sense practices: Wearing loose clothing, staying in the shade, staying hydrated, making sure that you're limiting your work time if you do have to be out in the sun.”