VIDEO/PHOTOS: While many of us are fighting to stay cool during this heat wave, others are running into the fire — literally. The Cincinnati Fire Department’s 51 recruits are nearing the end of their training, but this week may be one of their most physically intense.
It’s not just because they have to drag a 175-pound dummy out of a burning storage container. It’s also due to the extreme temperatures they’re doing it all in. “It’s different from you know, just going outside and running or sprinting … you have on your coat, your pants, you know, it adds a whole different heat index to it. So, it’s just harder,” said Jiair Thomas, one of the Cincinnati Fire Department recruits. The fires Thomas and his fellow recruits are fighting can be 300 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and stepping into 90-plus-degree heat after fighting a fire doesn’t provide much of a cool-down.
