WATCH ABOVE: While some people were trying to find shade in the scorching heat, for others it’s all in a day’s work. Global’s Ray Bradshaw reports.
HALIFAX – The scorching weather throughout the Maritimes had people trying to cool off. And for some, it’s all in a day’s work.
Didn’t we see enough of this last winter and spring was the first thought as a truck driver used a plow to spread out ice on a sizzling hot day. It’s left over ice at Springwater Incorporated which makes “Party Ice”.
Another half-ton truck is getting loaded with ice that will be used to cool down newly poured concrete, so it will harden faster.
Meanwhile, ice making machines are going full out, and so are workers, because demand is up with the hot weather. Fork lift operator Brad Greenough faces both cold and heat in his job.
“The temperature change when you go in the cold room, back to the outdoors, it’s a little shocking… a little shiver,” says Greenough, “Then you warm right back up again.”
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Some may think it may be a cool job today, to be loading bags of ice onto pallets. “Those guys, they’ve got sweat on their foreheads because it’s not as cool as what you might think,” says Brett Fletcher, the Operations Manager at Springwater Incorporated. He adds, “people come up to the truck drivers and say oh wow, I wish I had your job. Same idea, you’re in the back of the truck and it’s cool and then you’re out loading a freezer and you’re sweating. It is fun.”
A hockey arena is another nice place to get cooled down, whether you’re working or just visiting. The people operating the ice making machines are enjoying their jobs.
Jason Clark is the Chief Engineer at the Halifax Forum and Civic Centre. An ice maker for 20 years, Clark can’t think of any thing he’d rather do, especially when when it’s hot outside.
“You come with a jacket and jeans on, knowing that you’re going to a nice cold rink and it’s always good to have the cold – i mean i prefer the cold over the heat, so to have a job that you’re not facing 35 degree weather, makes a big difference,” says Clark.
Clark describes his job as shovelling snow year round. He says he never takes vacation in the Summer. “It’s just too nice,” says Clark. “You come to work. You’re relaxed, you’re not tired, you’re not fatigued and it’s perfect.”
Clark says any arena is a great place to cool off. “Heat days like this, people just come in and sit down,” says Clark.
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