With High Temps Throughout The Week, Southland Residents Work To Stay Cool

FONTANA (CBSLA) - With high temperatures bearing down for most of the week, ice cream trucks across the southland are sounding their speakers, encouraging people to come cool off.

Francisco Perez who owns an ice cream truck was honest when asked if he hopes the high temperatures stick around Wednesday.

"Yes, I need the work," Perez said.

Perez knows firsthand what it's like to work in temps over 100 degrees. His van doesn't have air-conditioning and the engine that continually powers his business also heats up his workplace.

At the Fontana Senior Center, where they keep ice cold water stacked high in an industrial refrigerator, Community Services Supervisor Tiffany Sparks said she's not fond of the heat at all, which is why she likes working at the senior center when it's setup as a cooling center for people in the community.

It gets chilly enough in the cooling center that Sparks said she keeps a jacket in her office.

The Fontana Senior Center is up and running as a cooling off spot any day the temperature tops 100 degrees, which means Monday through Friday made the cut this week.

"...air is expensive," Sparks said. "So, if you're able to turn it off for a little bit...come to a community center that's going to keep you cool."

Hot days are one thing, but climate experts say we've been experiencing more hot nights as well, which can pose a risk to people exerting themselves in the high temperatures  because if they get too hot, it can take longer to get one's core temperature down.

"It, like, gets me more tired and more fatigued," said 18-year-old Anthony Cuba who has a serious cardio routine as a professional boxer. "I was one of the only 17-year-lds to fight on a Showtime pay-per-view card.

This is why Cuba said he stays vigilant about switching his routine up.

"That's why I run at like 6, 7 o'clock, around there, just so I know that the sun's not gonna be, like, shining right on me."

With more 100 degree temperatures on the way, it's important to take heat related illnesses seriously, as well as protect against them and anything that could possibly ignite a fire.