BUFFALO, N.Y. — It has been a tough couple of days for Buffalo firefighters, more than 20 of them have been injured on the job or have suffered heat exhaustion.
The Buffalo Fire Department says the big reason is because they've seen some larger fires recently.
The department said in the last week alone, firefighters responded to five two-alarm fires, which are generally larger fires that require more personnel.
The department says 20 firefighters were hurt last week at fires across the city, and about half of those firefighters suffered some sort of issue because of the heat. A spokesperson told 2 On Your Side those firefighters have been treated and are back on the job.
Five more firefighters were hurt just this week. The department says many of these injuries don't appear to be long term.
2 On Your Side spoke to Buffalo's Fire Commissioner William Renaldo about how they try to keep firefighters fresh.
"A lot of times we'll pull a second-alarm or the leadership will call a second-alarm just to get more manpower on the scene so we can cycle in more people through the fire and give them a break basically get some fresh bodies on the scene so that's probably the best thing that we do," Renaldo said.
To deal with the heat, the Buffalo Fire Department has what's called a rehab rig, which has fans and various ways for firefighters to cool down. The department also has a medical director who can administer IV's at the scene, if needed.
Buffalo Fire says any firefighter who suffers heat exhaustion is not sent to another call. The reality is, because of the nature of the job, at times there's nothing that can be done to stay away from the heat. And with a heat wave expected in Buffalo later this week there is definitely concern about the heat index here.