His work these days is a real hell, in full asphalt. As if they were in a sandwich designed by the devil himself: the atmosphere, with a desert wind and at almost 40ºC, and the ground, the liquid asphalt that they throw with the machines to cover Carrer Col·legi de Terrassa, a beautiful new black at more than 160ºC. And in the middle, they, the operators of the Asfaltos Barcino company, exhausted from such an extreme torrid climate.
Pedro Adán is an expert worker with many years in the asphalting world, in several companies. With Barcino it started when they opened. He does not remember experiencing such hellish heat. “Tuesday was insane. We were working in a park and fell apart with this fire. We were in full sun at 42º C and we had no shade to protect us”, he regrets. “Today [talking about yesterday] it’s a little better, because on Carrer Col·legi we have the shade of the buildings and, luckily, the sun doesn’t hit so hard”. Manuel, the manager, admits that, whenever they can, they stop and rest for a while, organize themselves in shifts and drink water from the five-liter bottles that the company provides them. “We protect ourselves with hats and caps and wet our faces, arms and hands” to reduce the intense heat. Asphalt smokes and emits very unhealthy fumes, from which they can barely escape.
“The most complicated thing is that this job is a chain in which, when you have the machine with the liquid asphalt ready, you cannot stop, no matter how much you feel like it. It comes out at 160º C and you need to take advantage of the optimal moment to spread it so that it stays firm”, explain the operators. Luckily, none suffered from heat stroke these days. They ensure that they are taken care of. “We apply common sense and combine our personal safety with the best result of the trade. However, I am clear that in this life what can wait is work”, says Adán.
At the headquarters of Asfaltos Barcino, its spokeswoman, Cristina, acknowledges that the extreme heat makes the work of operators difficult, but that, for now, they have not had to cancel any work in the province of Barcelona. “What we have done is double the order of bottles for the workers. We’ve gone from around 120, five litres, to more than 200”, explains the spokeswoman. “They organize themselves well, they are very strong and they have all the freedom to stop and rest when their bodies ask them to. They are very good professionals”, says Cristina.
Other fire tamers are in a similar situation, such as those from the churreria La Floresta in Sabadell, who got up early yesterday Wednesday to prepare the churros and sticks for the clientele. They acknowledge that, luckily, they were closed on Monday and Tuesday, but every time they approach the pan, the oil reaches 40º C.
