Metro Firefighters Battle Heat Exhaustion While Fighting Blazes
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Firefighters from several metro stations have reason to be exhausted Sunday night.
Several crews battled as many as five fires over the weekend. The latest, a fire in north Minneapolis Sunday morning. And one at a motel in Lakeville, where six firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.
And on Saturday, firefighters were also battling the extreme heat after two separate fires in Minneapolis.
"Keeping us cool is a challenge in these extreme temperatures," Minneapolis Deputy Chief Anthony Kuczek said.
One crew of Minneapolis firefighters faced the inferno in two separate fires Saturday.
"So they didn't have a very good down time to cool off so made it a little more challenging in the afternoon, they had to call more companies in," Kuczek said.
And even without the sun, Lakeville firefighters felt the heat early Sunday.
"We've had six firefighters that have been treated for heat exhaustion," Lakeville Fire Chief Mike Dickenson said.
Minneapolis Deputy Chief Anthony Kuczek said in temperatures like this weekend's and humidity levels, it's a numbers game.
"Even 100 degrees just our own body temperature and then you go inside a fire and you are talking anywhere from 300 to 700-plus degrees on that," Kuczek said.
So that's where this truck comes in, stocked with extra breathing tanks, towels and a chest full of ice. It provides refreshment on scene.
"Something to us that would be a routine fire becomes a little more challenging just because the fact that we need more help," Kuczek said.
Obstacles opposite of the ones they face in that other season, he says.
"Extreme cold for us, that's also a challenge and then with the extreme heat, there's not many days in the middle for us," Kuczek said.
But they work on because around here in order to fight the fires, you have to battle the elements.
There were about a dozen injuries in total, and all the firefighters are expected to recover.
