Salt Lake Valley Residents Try To Keep Cool As Temperatures Hit 100 Degrees
Jul 11, 2019, 8:17 PM | Updated: 8:18 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – As temperatures reached 101 degrees in the Salt Lake Valley and air conditioners failed, people looked for ways to stay cool.
In South Salt Lake, nearly 1,400 people lost power when a construction crew hit an underground power line.
“I work on a desktop, so the power went out and I thought it might just pop back on, like it has done before, but now it’s been a little while,” said Nick Bird, who was working from home Thursday.
Crews were able to restore power before heat built up in the homes too quickly.
HVAC specialists were busy as other people’s air conditioners failed.
“I just woke up and no AC! By midday, it’s 95 degrees in here,” Sean O’Dell said.
Steve Wilson has worked for Manwill Plumbing for years. He said people often don’t properly maintain their air conditioners, so when the weather heats up, they’re on the brink of failure.
“At that point, they run longer, work harder and then they just break down. People call us in a panic and want service as soon as possible and we get there as quickly as we can,” Wilson said.
During the hottest days of summer, he said he and his colleagues put in extra-long hours.
“We got guys working pretty much seven days a week, 12 hours a day on average. Sometimes more, sometimes less,” he said.
O’Dell’s system had a wiring issue. Wilson had the problem fixed quickly and was ready to move on to the next call.