SCRANTON -- Folks in Lackawanna County made patching a broken pool a priority in the heat.
There were no complaints from swimmers wishing the pool was open earlier. Better late than never they said, especially in this heat and because McDade Park pool is one of only a few free pools in Lackawanna County.
Swimmers taking a dip at McDade Park in Scranton agreed, a heat wave is best enjoyed poolside. The cool water gave some relief from another day well above 90 degrees.
"It's been kind of decent some days, and other days it just felt like it was in the hundreds," said Julien Wells of Scranton.
"It feels good because I get to get out of the house, have some fun, because it's usually been hot," said Jacob Theodore of Scranton
This was McDade pool's second day for swimmers on the fourth day of a bona fide heat wave. The pool at the county park off Keyser Avenue is open in the evenings and it's free, so swimmers waited anxiously as the temperatures rose.
"Every week we come once or twice up here to see if the pool was open after summer, because they don't allow pools in the trailer park where I live, so we've been dying to go to a pool," said Jordan Fuller of Moosic.
A broken filter kept the pool from opening on time, but better late than never, folks say you couldn't ask for better timing.
With the heat wave and everything, it's perfect for us to be able to come up here. It's free and everything, not too crowded," said Zachary Beyer of Scranton.
Lifeguards say they're first day was a little slow, but news spread fast that the pool was open. Lackawanna County officials told them it was top priority to open the pool before the heat subsides.
"We actually were put in charge of cleaning the pool and we would just come in and sweep the floor, do some other stuff, painting a little bit too," said Liam McDonald of Dunmore.
"So happy that it's open, and paying the price of Nay Aug and the other pools not being so clean, you know? Just very happy, my kids are happy so we're happy," said Diane Verrone of Dickson City.
The McDade Park pool will stay open for the remainder of the summer. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week.