ZANESVILLE, Ohio- The Zanesville Fire Department needs to take special cautions to keep its firefighters safe in the extreme summer heat.
The precautions were on clear display yesterday when the department responded to a fire in Maple Avenue. Firefighter Bryar Mayle explained the need for monitoring the fighters during the operation.
“Yesterday our incident command asked multiple times, ‘are you guys okay, are you too hot, do you need to sit down’. Our operators were bringing around water and gatorade the whole time, just helping each other out. We have to pay attention to people on scene even. If someone comes out of a house fire that’s a thousand degrees inside and they’re not sweating, they’re pale, they’re not red, that’s an issue.”
There’s also a few hacks the department uses when not in active service to combat the heat in the summer.
“In the summer months we do all our chores in the morning, cause you know we still have chores to do everyday. On Wednesdays we mow the grass so you’ll see guys out there at seven o’clock in the morning getting that done. We do all our chores and stuff in the mornings. Training, you’ll see we do all our trainings at night or in the morning, just trying to stay out of the heat.”
The Zanesville Fire Department also wants to thank the community for their continued support.
