On Wednesday, as temperatures approached 100 degrees, installers at Elite Roofing in Aberdeen got a snow day.

“We can’t handle the heat,” said owner Tony Inglese.

Asphalt shingles can’t, either.

“When it’s over 90, we try not to work — unless the roof is small. Then we start at 6 a.m. and quit at noon,” he says.

The record-setting heat wave that scorched the Northeast earlier in the week moved south, with scant relief in sight. The temperature hit the century mark in Moore County, as well.

But for people who work inside and out, the show must go on.

Don’t apply for the job if you can’t take the heat, owner Bobby Pugh tells applicants at The Valet Dry Cleaners in Southern Pines.

Judy Rees has been a presser there for 14 years. On Wednesday, her motto was “Hurry up, get done, get out.” The steam rising from her equipment pushes the temperature to 108.

“You get tired quicker,” Rees says cheerfully. “It wears you out. We live on our water bottles.”

Pugh keeps close watch on his employees.

“If I see somebody who looks pale I tell them to go into the (air conditioned) break room.” Fans required to remove chemical fumes from the plant preclude air conditioning. “But today we’ll be blowing in 100-degree air,” Pugh says.

Barry Collins and Lewis Wallace work the deep-fryer and grill at Sizzlin’ Steak or Eggs in Aberdeen.

“If it’s 100 outside, it’s 115 (over the stove),” Wallace says.

Collins pours water over his head, his shirt, anywhere for a cool-down. “There’s a lot of pressure … people watching you,” Wallace adds, so no meltdowns.

For some, there was no day off.

“The way the economy is, you have to work — you can’t afford a day off,” says Terry Webb, of Webb Construction.

Webb and his father, Don, were laying a new floor at Coach Light Trattoria in Southern Pines. Their equipment stood outside in the blazing sun.

“We start at 7 a.m. and work at a slower pace,” says Don Webb, who has been working construction in this climate for 40 years. The father-son team practice the method used by all hot-weather workers — frequent rests and continual hydration.

Wednesday was but a hair of the dog that bit Southern Pines firefighter/EMT Travis McGougan when he served in Iraq, where temperatures reached 130 degrees. Firefighters wear about 40 pounds of nonporous clothing and gear.

“That’s three layers,” he says. “I feel saturated when I take it off.”

And before firefighters hit the showers, they must clean the truck in the bay, where the thermometer registers a tame 95. At least this acclimates them to working in high temperatures, Chief Hampton Williams says.

McGougan is familiar with the dizziness and lightheadedness, which are symptoms of heat exhaustion. When on duty, he drinks up to a quart of water an hour. A truck filled with bottled water accompanies firefighters to a fire.

Heat is forgotten when a call comes in.

“The first thought is to get in the truck and go,” Williams says.

Paving asphalt reaches 300 degrees. Add 100-degree air temperature and Mae McKenzie, of Max Paving of Southern Pines, says, “We work only when we have to and stop often.”

She recalls a brutal job at a wastewater treatment plant, in 105-degree heat, no shade. Contracts for Moore County roads come first. Powerade comes second. Workers are watched carefully for signs of heat exhaustion.

Mechanic Keith Cockman works in a pit underneath cars at The Oil Changer in Southern Pines.

“Cars come off the road so hot that if you touch them they’ll burn you,” he says.

Before the installation of fans, the pit temperature scored 110. But Cockman adds, those same fans blow heat from the car back into his face. All things considered, he still prefers summer to winter, when his fingers freeze.

“I guess there’s no perfect job,” Cockman concedes.

Joe Patterson, UPS delivery person, carries boxes in and out of a non-air-conditioned truck, where he also keeps a cooler full of bottled water.

“I’m pretty miserable by mid-day. The heat drains energy,” Patterson says. UPS employees are allowed to wear shorts but Patterson chooses not to, for religious reasons.

Pete Van Camp, of The Tree Man Tree Service, says he feels a breeze from atop a 50-foot tree he is stripping on Ridge St.

“It’ll be hotter up here after I cut all the shade away,” he says.

The weather doesn’t deter Van Camp, who has been treating trees six days a week for 15 years.

“By the end of the day I’m worn out,” he says. “I wanna be paid good for it. I don’t like being hot but I don’t like being inside, either.”

Van Camp and his employees drink Gatorade and Propel to replace nutrients and electrolytes.

There’s a reason spicy food is indigenous to Mexico, Africa and the Middle East. The physiological reaction to hot peppers ultimately cools the body.

“This is true,” says Gilberto Sanchez, of Vera Cruz, Mexico, as he finished up a jalapeño-infused pork dish at La Poblanita Mexican restaurant in Aberdeen.

Christina Bello, the co-owner, was surprised but says her business is steady despite the heat. “You eat something (spicy), it makes you feel good,” she concludes.

Contact Deborah Salomon at debsalomon@hotmail.com.