Firefighters battle fires during heat wave - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Firefighters battle fires during heat wave

The sweltering temperature has most people trying to stay cool and safe.  However, for firefighters, there is no escaping the heat.

It's the hottest job in town on the hottest day of the year so far.

Like everyone else, firefighters are battling the heat wave trying to stay hydrated.

But unlike everyone else, they are also battling flames.  Their heavy gear only causes more suffering.

Firefighters at Station 9 start their shift answering the call for a house fire. 

"I told the guys to start drinking a lot of electrolytes and water first thing because we're on for 24 hours and on a day like today we're going to be up for most of them," says Captain Cary Garnett.

The four men on Engine 9 spot the heavy smoke billowing into the sky as they head south on I-75.

They're already sweltering even before they get to the flames.      

 "You feel it," says Captain Garnett.  "In this case we had to make room for this aerial ladder truck, so we parked down a couple blocks, about a block down and we walked and you can already feel you're sweating already and you haven't really even done any work inside the fire building."

It's a vacant house fire on the 1300 block of Utah.  It spreads to two homes next door.

"All I hear was a boom so I come out and everyone was out here.  I went in to go get my dog," says Brittany Bubb, a neighbor." All five of these houses have been abandoned for years."

Fire Chief Luis Santiago suspects arson.

 "This is personal when people are doing things like this. It puts our people in harm's way," says Chief Santiago.

It's especially dangerous in this oppressive heat.

"You feel weak when you come out," says Toledo Firefighter Bill Bruss. "You go in and you fight the fire, you come back out, you might have to go in the next structure, if it's still rolling and when you come out of there it's just like you're limp. So it's hot."

The busy day for Engine 9 is only just beginning.  The firefighters next respond to a medical call at Taco Bell on Reynolds.

 "They've done this business for a while so they understand the long haul, but it certainly is challenging," says Chief Santiago.