SUMMER HEAT SIZZLES SIMI; AIR-CONDITION GLUT SHORTS POWER IN CITY, MOORPARK.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

Residents sought refuge Tuesday in air-conditioned restaurants, shops and movie theaters as the mercury shot above 100 in communities around Ventura County.

The whirring of all those air conditioners taxed the power grid and caused brief afternoon brownouts in both Simi Valley and Moorpark.

In Simi Valley, afternoon temperatures hovered around 103, matching the record high for the day set three years ago, according to the National Weather Service. In Thousand Oaks, residents reported temperatures close to 102 degrees at noon, a record for that city.

In Simi Valley, dozens of children and adults cooled off inside the Easy Street Ice Rink, where the temperature was a soothing 40 degrees.

``The minute you walk in, it cools you right off,'' said Elizabeth Daniels, who skates on the rink Monday and Thursday mornings. ``Even if you're tired or worn out from the heat you come in here and it wakes you right up.''

Rink cashier Mickey Medina said business is brisk at the rink during heat waves.

``Over the past few days I've seen people come who I haven't seen in ages,'' Medina said. ``We've also had a lot of calls from different groups this week - the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club - and a lot of birthday parties. They all need a place to cool off.''

Conejo Valley residents sought out the air-conditioned shops, restaurants and movie theaters at The Promenade at Westlake. The normally crowded wrought-iron tables scattered along the walkways outside restaurants sat empty as diners took to the indoors.

``We came to get ice cream and have our meeting in an air-conditioned spot,'' said Jenny Goodrich, 17, who sat inside Cupid's Hot Dogs with four other incoming seniors from Thousand Oaks High School. ``We're planning the freshman orientation. . . . I probably won't go back outside until after dark. Last night, I was sweating while I was waiting in line at the Jack-in-the-Box at 7:30 p.m.''

For an unlucky few, the heat was inescapable.

``I'm hot and wet and tired,'' said Alonica Ramirez, as she bent over a a dry-cleaning press in a mall shop. ``I can't wait for this to end.''

Though hard to believe, those from even warmer climes sniffed at Tuesday's 100-plus temperatures.

``This is nothing. I got a nice breeze blowing through here, and I'm parked under this tree,'' said Brooklyn-expatriate Frank Catuogno, who for two years has parked his hot-dog stand trailer under the same shade tree on Easy Street in Simi Valley. On Tuesday, he and his 84-year-old father sat in lawn chairs outside the portable stand.

``I worked for years as welder . . . in boiler rooms and on catwalks where the heat was so bad it would would get up to 120, 125 degrees.

``This is as hot at it gets in here,'' Catuogno said, walking inside the trailer and pointing to a digital thermometer mounted inside the small trailer, just above the steam tables. At 11:30 a.m., the thermometer read 98 degrees. ``It's not so bad. The way I see it, I have it made in the shade on Easy Street.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--color) Amy Simon-Weiner and her daughter, Hallie, 10, skate at the Easy Street Ice Rink in Simi Valley.

(2--color in Simi edition only) From left, Brittany Daniels and Lauren and Tina Johnson gear up.

Tina Gerson/Daily News