Tuesday's Hot Weather Posed Serious Threats to Firefighters

“In my 15 years with the department, I never fought a fire on a day when the temperature was so high.”

Assistant St. Louis Park Fire Chief Mike Dobesh wasn’t talking about the heat coming from the fire’s flames; he was referring to the ambient air temperature everyone in Minnesota felt on Tuesday. In the Twin Cities, the thermometer hit a record 103 degrees.

A at the Natchez Place Condominiums, 4625 Minnetonka Boulevard, resulted in fire departments from six communities responding. It wasn’t the extent of the fire—it was the hot day that resulted in such a big response.

“We knew before the day started that we were going to be in for some very hot weather,” Dobesh said. “We prepare for those contingencies.”

The assistant chief said he and other firefighters were consuming a lot of liquids throughout the day. Just as importantly, the department was prepared to get firefighters from other nearby municipalities involved if a fire broke out in St. Louis Park.

In the end, five other cities—Minneapolis, Hopkins, Golden Valley, Richfield and Eden Prairie—sent crews to the condominium fire, for a total response of roughly 100 firefighters.

Firefighters are especially vulnerable when working in hot and humid weather, largely because of their clothing and equipment. On average, this amounts to 40 pounds of additional weight that must be lugged around on the job—a job that requires quick action and the expenditure of a lot of energy. The protective clothing is designed to prevent intrusion from the elements, thus it doesn’t handle the escaping of body heat very well.

“In cold weather, a firefighter can cool down by first shedding his or her clothing and equipment, then warming up (as needed) in a vehicle or in a nearby building," Dobesh said. "But when it is so hot as was the case Tuesday, it is very difficult to cool down the body.”

In the case of Tuesday's fire, the need for the units from other cities was simply to provide relief and not have any of the firefighters getting too overworked and overheated.

Dobesh said the fire itself was not extensive and had it not been for the temperature, the St. Louis Park department could have handled it on its own.

Dr. Mark Seaburg, an internal medicine specialist with the Park Nicollet Clinic in Minneapolis who has done research on the affects of heat on the human body, said that in conditions like Tuesday's, the “body has a narrow range in which it can do well.”

“For a firefighter, all of that protective clothing doesn’t allow for sweating, which is the way the body cools itself,” he said. “If someone gets really overheated, there is a risk of organ failure as well as blood clotting.”

Seaburg said the situation was handled well on Tuesday with the use of a lot of liquids and additional help from other departments.

“Something else which is important is to have a lot of ice on hand," Seaburg added. "We recommend athletes, especially those engaged in endurance sports, put it inside a cap or sweat band because it really helps keep one cooled down.”