Bay Area weather: East Bay residents cope with near 100-degree sizzling heat

PLEASANTON, Calif. (KGO) -- Soft serve on tap - is there a better invention than this on a day flirting with 100 degrees? Happy carloads of customers lined up at Meadowlark Dairy in Pleasanton on Tuesday but last week, chaos ensued during the heat wave when their walk-in freezer - a huge walk-in freezer - broke.

"Just blew a breaker, the compressors on the machines got too hot. A lot of ice cream everywhere. A lot of cream all over the floor. We got it now - now we're back!" Jesse Takens, Meadowlark Dairy owner, said.

They're slowly restocking the bars, pints and tubs that were a total loss.

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Capt. Chris Toler with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said, "There are going to be days such as this. There are going to be days hotter than this. So for us we like to hydrate and make sure our firefighters are safe."

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District upstaffed in April, hiring 32 new handcrew specialists and two captains along with two dozers to be prepared for the 2024 fire season.

"We have our own Type 1 or structural firefighting engines, and we also have our Type 3 and Type 6s, which are wildland firefighting engines and our crews go back and forth between these two," Capt. Toler said.

The training proved valuable on Sunday as crews fought what started as a structural fire in a warehouse, a blaze that quickly blew up into a 55 acres grass fire.

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"We have a lot of hillside with a lot of brown grass on it so we just have to be prepared," Capt. Toler noted.

Their strategy for being prepared also applies to the general public.

Capt. Toler says on hot days, crews "hydrate all day everyday, taking electrolytes. When you're on a fire and thirsty that's not the time to load up on water."