Ice making company in Menomonee Falls swamped with ice requests

CREATED Jul. 6, 2012

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  • Lacey Crisp reports Video by tmj4.com

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MENOMONEE FALLS- People are paying a price to keep cool.

The one thing that could make this heat wave worse -- power outages.

Fortunately we haven't seen much of that this week.

There was one outage that affected about 3,700 customers Thursday, but that was taken care of within just a couple of hours.

We Energies told TODAY'S TMJ4 they did reach a new peak for demand for the year Thursday, but that still wasn't as high as last year's peak and the all-time peak.

Of course you'll notice the extra usage in your next bill.

From the air conditioners to the deep freeze, TODAY'S TMJ4's Lacey Crisp got a chance to spend time with workers who have one of the "coolest" jobs.

While most of us are tearing off layers and sweating in the sun, at Arctic Glacier in Menomonee Falls, they are wearing winter jackets and hats.

Jarret Hauenstein knows he has one of the "coolest" jobs around.

"They gotta step outside every once in awhile, and then they come right back inside because of the heat," said Hauenstein.  "This week, it's the best job I could have.  I've been in other factories and it's sweltering.  You're just sweating non-stop.  This, you don't have to worry about sweating too much."

One of the areas largest ice making companies can hardly keep up.

Two rooms were completely full of ice at the start of Summerfest, but now they have just a few loads filling the 28-degree room.  Even those are heading out as soon as they are ready.

"We've been swamped.  We can't keep enough ice in here.  Everybody is taking it," said Hauenstein.

He admits that while the rest of us may be complaining about the record-breaking heat wave, it doesn't bother him.

"I say it was snowing at work (Friday), when we are dumping carts, and we have a nice little snow pile.  We could have a snowball fight if we want," noted Hauenstein.

Arctic Glacier said last month their sales were $300,000 above the average June.