THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100156
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: In the Hot Seat
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Kevin Roughton's job - keeping others cool in the summer - keeps him plenty hot.
Roughton was working on a compressor on the Heilig-Meyers Furniture Co. roof last week when the temperature there registered 110 degrees.
But that wasn't as bad as crawling into an attic without ventilation in the roof, said Roughton, a heating and air-conditioning technician for S.W. Rawls Inc.
``You can't even imagine how hot it gets up there,'' said Roughton, who lives in Suffolk. ``It's like sticking your head in an oven.''
On a recent attic job, his thermometer measured 140.
``You can't put your tools down, because when you pick them up, they'll burn you,'' he said. ``You stay up there 15 minutes and you've got to come down because you can't think straight.
Roughton, who's done burner service work for 11 years, loses weight every summer.
``I've lost about 12 pounds recently, just sweating,'' he said.
This year's heat seemed endless, Roughton said on an extremely hot day last week.
``Usually we get weather like this for a few days, maybe a week,'' he said. ``This year, it's been hot right on through.''
He fills a cooler with tea or water in the morning and drinks all day - a gallon or more. When he gets home, he downs another three or four gallons of tea before bedtime.
``I'm just thirsty all the time,'' he said.
Frequent breaks at work help.
``All you can do is stop, take a break and drink water,'' he said.
Worrying about the heat makes it worse.
``I just try not to think about it,'' he said. ``It helps to get your mind off it.''
Some people wouldn't last long doing what he does, he said.
``This is not a job for everybody,'' he said. ``It definitely takes it out of you.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on the cover by John H. Sheally II
Vinyl installer Cliff Eoton...
Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
David Rook, left, and Kevin Roughton swelter on the rooftop at
Franklin Shopping Center.
by CNB