TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The Kearney Center, an emergency homeless shelter in Tallahassee, knows how hot in can get in North Florida. That's why they're breaking protocol and allowing their clients stay in an area of the building that is normally closed during the day to beat the Summer heat.
"Heat related illness is something that is going across the board, and here in Florida we take it seriously," said CESC-Kearney Center CEO Samanatha Vance.
Vance said they're even giving their clients hydration courses that emphasize the importance of drinking water, especially during this weeks heat advisory, parts of the region seeing 106 degree heat indexes.
And while the Kearney Center is keeping their clients safe, the Tallahassee Fire Department is also keeping their firefighters safe in the extreme heat.
"Going into structure fires, and the atmosphere's we have to wear, temperatures can alone inside those buildings go from 800 to 1200 degrees," said TFD Deputy Chief Richard Jones.
Jones is reminding his firefighters to drink water frequently.
"When we're on the scene dealing with these, our battalion chiefs will make sure make sure they watch their personnel, we rotate so we make sure we don't over work them," said Jones.
Both organizations making sure to keep their people safe through what won't be the Big Bend's last heat wave.
The Kearney Center also said they have on site health services in case their clients have any heat-related-illnesses.
