Firefighters Train in Heat to Prepare for Long Summer
By: Kyle Leyenberger, nwahomepage.com
Updated: June 28, 2012
Rogers firefighters trained in triple digit temperatures Thursday, preparing for a hot summer.
"If it's 100 degrees in June, I can't imagine what it will be like in July and August," says Captain Matt Miller.
The department held Truck Company Operations training, including a search and rescue exercise in an abandoned home.
"It's hot and it's not a good time but it's part of the job," Miller says. "We can't stop fighting fire just because it gets hot."
Teams of two or three practiced search and rescue techniques in full gear.
"It's like a baked potato," Miller says. "In that suit and in that heat, especially on the roof, you are sweating from the minute you put that stuff on."
Matthew Burnett joined the department just over a year ago, and says the Captain isn't exaggerating.
"It's like sitting in a sauna," Burnett says. "Anything you do in there, your heart rate rises and you sweat pretty much the entire time, it's just something you have to get used to."
Miller says the training helps that adaptation.
"These guys, when we have a fire, their bodies will be used to that and won't have any heat stroke or heat exhaustion," he says.
Miller says safety is a priority, and the men prepared for the training before coming in to work by drinking extra water.
"It's not just firefighting," Miller says. "Any career, if you're going to be outside these days with record temperatures, you have to be safe and pre-hydrate yourself. Keep water with you and eat the right foods."
"If it's 100 degrees in June, I can't imagine what it will be like in July and August," says Captain Matt Miller.
The department held Truck Company Operations training, including a search and rescue exercise in an abandoned home.
"It's hot and it's not a good time but it's part of the job," Miller says. "We can't stop fighting fire just because it gets hot."
Teams of two or three practiced search and rescue techniques in full gear.
"It's like a baked potato," Miller says. "In that suit and in that heat, especially on the roof, you are sweating from the minute you put that stuff on."
Matthew Burnett joined the department just over a year ago, and says the Captain isn't exaggerating.
"It's like sitting in a sauna," Burnett says. "Anything you do in there, your heart rate rises and you sweat pretty much the entire time, it's just something you have to get used to."
Miller says the training helps that adaptation.
"These guys, when we have a fire, their bodies will be used to that and won't have any heat stroke or heat exhaustion," he says.
Miller says safety is a priority, and the men prepared for the training before coming in to work by drinking extra water.
"It's not just firefighting," Miller says. "Any career, if you're going to be outside these days with record temperatures, you have to be safe and pre-hydrate yourself. Keep water with you and eat the right foods."
