Monday’s high temperatures were top of mind for food truck owners in inland Connecticut.
The Wagon Cookhouse on Chamberlain Highway in Kensington closed after breakfast. The owner, Traci Carter said it was too hot to work past 10:30 a.m.
"The hood fan will pull some air through here but on a typical day when all the burners are up and going it can be 103, 106 degrees in here. Because it’s going to be so warm today we’re not going to attempt to extend into lunch because of the heat. It can be very dangerous, the dehydration is the biggest concern,” Carter said.
Carter said she was worried it would even be too hot for breakfast, but she did not want to put her loyal customers out on a Monday morning. While working, she did her best to keep cool.
“We have neck protectors that have ice in them that we’ll put on the back of our necks, we’ll try and keep our clothes as light as possible, stay more toward the window when we’re not back on the grill to keep that ventilation coming,” Carter said.
Rafael Avila, the owner of Jennifer’s Breakfast and Lunch in Middletown, also did his best to keep cool in Monday’s heat.
“It’s about 120 degrees and it’s hot. It’s scorching. Very uncomfortable,” said Avila, referring to the inside of his food truck parked on North Main Street in Middletown.
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Avila typically gets a big lunch rush and said he can’t move from the grill between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. He wore light clothing, did his best to stay hydrated and said his customers keep him motivated.
“Conversations with the customers makes us forget that it’s hot,” said Avila. “You really have to like what you’re doing in order to do this job. It gets very hot.”
