Fire season is upon us, and the heavy workload and hot temperatures are taking a toll on emergency responders, reports kxly.com.
Firefighters already have to battle flames up to 1000 degrees; combine that with these record high temperatures, and firefighters run the risk of getting heat related illnesses.
It’s only the beginning of July, and already the Spokane Fire Department has responded to more fires and medical calls than this time last year.
“It’s been relentless in terms of the business we’re responding to,” pokane Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said.
The heat is not helping.
“Normally we see this kind of heat in August and we only have a couple days of it, maybe a week, maybe two weeks of it, but not like we’ve seen so far,” Schaeffer said.
The gear firefighters wear is unforgiving when temperatures rise into the 90s.
“It does really good at keeping us protected, and one thing it doesn’t do a good job at is letting us release our heat,” Schaeffer said.
To combat this, firefighters work in short intervals.
“It’s not unlikely for the body core temperature of firefighters just after a very short time to go up around two degrees and probably lose two pounds of water just from that constant sweating,” said Schaeffer.
When you see firefighters taking a break during an emergency situation, it’s not because they are not working. They are trying to protect themselves to better serve you.
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