The July 4th holiday weekend, notorious for its festivities and fireworks, this year was marked by an unrelenting heat wave that saw Phoenix Fire Department's crews facing a barrage of fire calls amidst record-breaking temperatures.
According to AZFamily, the department responded to 187 fire calls on July 4. As the heat persisted, crew members juggled incidents ranging from dumpster and tree fires to house blazes and heat emergency medical calls.
Phoenix Fire Captain Rob McDade detailed the impact of the heat on their operations, "There were firehouses that were going from a dumpster fire to a tree fire, a house fire, then a heat emergency medical call," McDade told AZFamily.
The department, preparing for the blistering conditions, had already doubled up on crews, and medical supplies, anticipating a spike in heat-related emergencies, as per AZFamily. The threat was not idle talk, as temperatures soared, the crew used ice-filled body bags to treat heat-stressed victims multiple times a day.
