Monday's Topeka heat index was 123 degrees; city and county workers are taking precautions

The protective gear Topeka firefighters wear can get pretty hot — especially if the heat index is 123 degrees, like it was Monday.

In times of such torrid temperatures, the department's battalion chiefs bring coolers of bottled water along on each call, said Gretchen Spiker, the city's communications director.

"Additionally, when responding to fires in extreme weather conditions, TFD rotates crews through quicker, and performs mandatory medical checks at the scene for personnel," she told The Capital-Journal on Monday.

Sunday brought historic heat; Monday was almost as oppressive

The National Weather Service reported Topeka's heat index at about 2 p.m. Monday topped out at 123 degrees, 1 degree short of the 124-mark recorded Sunday at its Topeka office near Phillip Billard Municipal Airport.

Sunday's reading surpassed what was thought to be Topeka's unofficial heat index record high of 121, recorded in 2017.

The weather service doesn't maintain official heat index records, but its Topeka office began keeping unofficial records of heat index readings in 1978, Capital-Journal archives say.

The heat index measures how hot it feels when relative humidity is factored in with the actual air temperature.

Community centers serve as 'cooling centers'

With the weather service predicting high temperatures here of 103 on Tuesday, 104 on Wednesday, 105 on Thursday and 101 on Friday, Shawnee County Parks and Recreation announced Monday that six local community centers will be open to the public as "cooling centers" through Friday and will close at 7 p.m. daily instead of their usual 6 p.m.

It said the public may cool off between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily at Shawnee North Community Center, 300 N.E. 43rd; and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at Central Park Community Center, 1534 S.W. Clay; Crestview Community Center, 4801 S.W. Shunga Drive; Hillcrest Community Center, 1800 S.E. 21st; Garfield Community Center, 1600 N.E. Quincy; and Oakland Community Center, 801 N.E. Poplar.

Here's who got free ice cream sandwiches Monday to help them cool off

Spiker told of these other steps Topeka's city government takes to help employees cool off in times of extreme heat:

• The Topeka Police Department makes cold bottled water and Gatorade available to all employees, with supervisors keeping a close eye on officers. On Monday, the Topeka Police Credit Union gave officers free ice cream sandwiches to help them stay cool.

• The public works department provides its employees coolers containing water and ice.

• The utilities department provides employees with water, ice and electrolytes.

• The city makes available to its employees equipment that includes cooling towels and shade hats, while some vehicles have been equipped with additional fans for use at job sites.

• The city encourages all its employees to stay hydrated, keep an eye on one another and take extra breaks in air-conditioned buildings.

Shawnee County's having employees work earlier in the day

Bill Sutton, director of Shawnee County's solid waste department, said department has been dealing with the heat by rotating employees' duties and providing them Gatorade mix. The department has also stopped bulky item and yard waste pickup this week, he said.

Amanda Monhollon, the county's public information officer, said the county is arranging for its parks and recreation employees who work outdoors to start at 6:30 a.m. and finish at 3 p.m., so their outdoor work will take place earlier in the day, when temperatures are lower.

The county is also helping protect parks and recreation employees by encouraging them to drink plenty of fluids; encouraging them to work indoors, when possible, and in the shade if that's possible when they're working outdoors; and providing full-time staff members bucket hats to better protect them from the sun.

Monhollon said the county is providing wet towels, Gatorade and a lot of water to its public works employees, who are working on projects that require less manual labor.

It's also rotating them from being outside to operating equipment in air-conditioned areas, she said.

In addition, the public works staff is "getting at it so the crew can finish up sooner," Monhollon said.

The county's weed department is dealing with the heat by rescheduling work to be done using UTVs until next week, with applicators continuing to work this week from pickup trucks, she said.

Unfortunately for the county's sheriff's office, Monhollon said, the heat doesn't deter criminal activities or life-threatening incidents.

"Our deputies will continue to respond to calls as usual with their air-conditioned vehicles," she said. "Thanks to recent donations, we also have an abundance of bottled water."

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka government workers take precautions to stay safe from the heat