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Photo by Steve Johnson Mark Vandewalker, 37, an employee of Hoag Roofing, relies on gallons of water to avoid heat-related illness as his crew renovates the roof of the Pony Soldier Motor Inn in Medford. Now that's hot work Medford peaks at 100 By JONEL ALECCIA Maybe you thought you were hot on Monday, the Rogue Valley's first day of triple-digit temperatures this year. But chances are you weren't nearly as hot as Mark Vandewalker. The 37-year-old Hoag Roofing employee spent hours in the blistering sun, shouldering rolls of tar paper across the top of the Pony Soldier Motor Inn in Medford. After working in Saudi Arabia in 130-degree heat, John Gorham, 70, of Butte Falls, is unfazed by the Rogue Valley's high temperatures. The thermometer registered an even 100 degrees -- a little shy of weather experts' predictions and the July 12 record of 107 -- but still plenty warm. Meteorologist Eric Platt at the National Weather Service's Medford office said he expects highs of 98 today, dipping to 89 on Wednesday. "We thought the heat might spread up from Northern California, but it just didn't make it," he said. For Vandewalker and other outdoor workers, the season's first heat wave was a signal to stock up on sunscreen, cool clothing and lots and lots of water. "I had heat exhaustion one day last year in Shady Cove," said Vandewalker. "Now I drink three to four gallons of water every day." Ample fluids are a good start, said Craig Mather, an Ashland family doctor. "Roofers, in particular, that's the worst," Mather said. "Those guys need gallons of water a day. The rule should be hydrate, hydrate, hydrate." But there's more to beating the heat than mere water, especially for folks whose work keeps them outdoors. Frequent breaks in the shade are good, of course, as is generous use of sunscreen with a protection factor of 15 or higher on susceptible spots -- lips, ears, necks. One of the best ways to avoid the twin dangers of heat stroke and heat exhaustion is, surprisingly, to don more clothing. "It's long sleeves rather than short, it's long pants rather than shorts," Mather said. "And don't forget the hat." That's advice landscaper Jan Cunningham takes to heart. As the sun peaked in the sky Monday, the 47-year-old worker for Nice and Easy Landscaping was tilling the rose gardens at Bear Creek Corp. headquarters in Medford. She was decked out in a long-sleeved white shirt and a wide-brimmed hat. "I put the shirt on after lunch, when the heat builds up," she said. "Sometimes I even wet it and put it in the freezer first.'' In a nearby flower bed, Cunningham's 70-year-old father, John Gorham, wielded a hoe, nearly oblivious to the triple-digit day. "I worked in Saudi Arabia, where it was 120 or 130 degrees," the Butte Falls man said. "We landscaped the desert." Here, as there, he fills up on fluids and just keeps working. That's the same solution adopted by certified flaggers Shirena Parker, 33, and Verryl Bodiford, 47, as they controlled traffic at a construction site on Highway 66 outside Ashland. The pair, who work for K and D Services in Tualatin, rely on gallons of Gatorade and jugs of water, plus a less tangible strategy as well. "We're supposed to think cool," said Bodiford, of Montague, Calif. "We tell the cars to go slow, but we really want them to go fast so the sweat gets cooled off," she added. Both women work outdoors year-round and they say they've learn to cope with the heat just fine. "I prefer this to January," Parker said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA