As Boston enters the fourth day of a sweltering heat wave Tuesday, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is opening their spray decks to offer people another way to cool down.
DCR, which manages state parks, extended the hours of operation at the spray decks, where people can run through or stand in water fountains free of charge.
The decks open Tuesday at 9 a.m. and will stay open until 8 p.m. as high temperatures are expected to reach the mid to upper 90s once again. With added humidity, it will feel like it’s 100 degrees at times.
On Wednesday, they will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will continue to operate under those hours throughout the summer.
There are 15 decks throughout the state, though the majority of them are in Boston.
Deepa Soni and her kids took advantage of the fountains along the Greenway Monday, the hottest day of 2021 with a high of 96 degrees in Boston.
“Kids are still in school, especially with masks on, we've got to do something and we live in the city, this is the best solution," Soni said.
There were two kinds of people outside on Tuesday: those out because they wanted to be and those out because they had to be.
"When a crews up there, it can get extremely hot for them, beyond what the weather shows," said roofing foreman Izzy Delva, adding that the thermometer can reach 120 degrees on a 95-degree day.
With temperatures like that, they start hydrating the day before, have plenty of cold drinks on hand and take regular breaks to cool off -- which is required by OSHA.
"We kind of check on them, make sure, like, 'Hey, are you OK? How you feeling?' And then every half hour to hour we take a water break. Take some time in the shade," Delva said.
