Workers Struggle To Stay Warm In Bitter Cold

As dangerously cold temperatures sweep across Green Country, people who work outside are struggling to stay warm.

In Tulsa, cold weather and dry conditions contributed to a 12-inch water line break out in the street near 66th and Yale.

"We're gonna be digging it out here tonight and seeing what we've got, you know, what type of break it is, if it's splitting the pipe or a hole in it, and then make repairs,” said City of Tulsa Water Department Distribution Manager Eric Parker.

Good news for St. Francis and the Warren Clinic, officials say they are not affected.

"It's just a matter of getting the line repaired and getting it back on,” said Parker. Nobody will be affected except for the traffic through the area.”

But bitter cold conditions will prolong the fix, as crews work through the night trying to stay warm.

"They can only be out here for so long,” said Parker. “You can dress as warm as you would like but you can only be out in these kind of conditions for so long.”

Over in Catoosa, firefighters quickly knocked down an electrical fire inside a home. No one was hurt. The fire chief says cold temperatures can cause significant problems for firefighters as well.

"You've gotta worry about the trucks freezing up, lines freezing up and causing problems like that, somebody slipping and falling,” stated Catoosa Fire Chief Denus Benton.

This brings a new set of challenges to an already dangerous job.

"It’s like an ice rink and you know your boots ain't friendly for any of that ice no matter where you are,” Denus Benton.