APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For some, it can be dangerous working in frigid, winter temperatures and icy conditions.
And after Monday’s storm, FOX 11 spoke with workers who have some of the toughest jobs during the winter months.
“We’re in the water quite a bit, so it’s a cold and dangerous job, but it’s also a lot of fun,” said Sunk? Dive and Ice Service owner Don Herman.
They’re tough, chilly jobs but someone’s got to do them, and snowplow drivers aren’t the only ones out there working in the cold.
Don Herman has been pulling vehicles, and whatever else falls through the ice, out of lakes for almost 40 years now.
“I’ve pulled just about anything – airplanes, helicopters, we’ve done just about anything that you can think of that has been in the water.”
About 80 percent of Herman’s jobs are during the winter.
In this line of business, he said, you’re not only dealing with frigid temps, you’re also working in dangerous situations.
“We’re walking around with bad ice all over the place, but most of us have our suits on. We have dive suits on, we wear life jackets, but we’ve all fallen in.”
A cold, risky job but Herman calls it challenging and fulfilling, nonetheless.
“The reward is getting the vehicle out. I’ve never not gotten a vehicle out that I’ve tried to get out.”
If you were feeling the cold again Tuesday, chances are you’ve taken shelter indoors.
But if you’re a dog walker, you don’t really have that luxury.
“They gotta go out! They gotta walk even if the sidewalks aren’t shoveled yet,” owner of Chewie Boots Pet Care Kelly Kernen said.
“Sometimes, early in the morning, I go out and I’m trampling through the sidewalks up to my knees in snow, but I gotta do it for the animals.”
Kernen tells FOX 11 when temperatures drop, her pet sitting and dog business picks up.
But having more animals to watch and walk means spending more time prepping, especially in the winter.
“I’ve got two layers of pants on, and three jackets, and my glove, and hats and everything just to keep myself warm.”
And while their jobs may be vastly different, the one thing both Don Herman and Kelly Kernen have in common is the one thing that keeps them braving those cold temperatures while at work.
Their love for the job.
