Drought situations and excessive temperatures in our state should not solely sparking extra grass fires however pushing firefighters to their restrict. 

“Sadly, it doesn’t take however one small ember to flee and you’ve got a wildfire racing fairly shortly,” stated Eric Harlow, the Hearth Chief for the Guthrie Hearth Division. 

Hearth stations throughout the state are battling the drought on all fronts. 

“We now have undoubtedly seen an uptick within the variety of grassfires simply because of the dry climate and lack of rainfall which sadly looks as if it’s going to persist for the close to future for positive. It causes a whole lot of put on and tear on our automobiles, put on and tear on our guys when it comes to hydration and exhaustion,” he stated. 

Harlow stated the temperature close to a fireplace is round 150 levels, taking a toll on their engines as they battle fires. 

“Our tanker as an example had a small fireplace get away on the pump unit yesterday simply because of a number of the warmth,” he stated. 

Firefighters are taking precautions whereas working but it surely solely goes thus far with all their gear on. 

“We’re going by means of much more bottled water, Gatorade, Powerade sort drinks because of the warmth. Attempting to get these guys replenished and re-hydrated, taking extra frequent breaks than we usually do on a fireplace simply so we don’t put on these guys out,” he stated. 

Departments want water and Gatorade donations as they battle fires in triple digit warmth. 

“Be thoughtful of our volunteer departments and different fireplace departments within the space don’t simply come convey all of it to make use of as a result of these guys want it simply as a lot as we do,” stated Harlow. 

If you wish to assist out, the Hearth Affiliation stated one of the best factor to do is to drop off donations at your native fireplace station.