Many will be staying inside Wednesday to avoid the brutal temperatures, but for first responders, they have no choice but to work outside.
Greenfield Police Officer James Enters said although dealing with harsh weather conditions is part of the job, the key to staying warm on scene is switching out personal.
"We do a good job of making sure we have each other’s back," said Enters. "If you're directing traffic for 5-10 minutes, we will switch places and sit in the squad car."
Officer Enters said Tuesday morning the department responded to a numerous amount of crashes. Although the officers were prepared for the weather, drivers were not.
"They didn’t have any gloves or hats so we let them stay in the back of the squad car," said Enters.
Over at Greenfield Fire Department, Lt. Brian Krueger said their fire chief has relaxed dress code requirements so firefighters can wear additional layers. The chief has also allowed additional units to be assigned to a scene so personal can swap out and stay warm.
"Our chief allows us to send additional pieces of equipment whatever type of call, whether it be emergency, medical for fire runs," said Lt. Krueger. "We call mutual aid companies 'sooners' so we can swap those crews out faster and keep them warm."
Krueger wants to remind the public to dress in lots of layers and cover exposed skin Tuesday night and Wednesday.
"Stay inside," said Krueger. "If you have to be outside limit the time out there."
