ROGERS, Ark. — Whether it’s 100 degrees outside or below freezing firefighters say facing winter challenges is more dangerous and difficult.
“When you have these temperatures extremes, it’s not only tough on the body of a firefighter meaning that we have to rehabilitate them and have to send additional firefighters to incidents that we normally wouldn’t, it also means the scene itself is risky,” Said Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins.
Putting out fires is not only difficult on a firefighter's body but on their equipment as well.
“The main thing we use to put out fires is water and water likes to freeze when it gets below freezing so our pumps will freeze up. The air bottles that we wear on our back which prevents us from breathing in smoke - those will freeze up, making bottle changes extremely difficult,” said Matt Conroy, fire equipment operator and paramedic.
When they’re not serving the community, the Rogers Fire Department has its own traditions of staying in the holiday spirit.
“Every year some of the firefighters that work there will dress up in holiday-themed attire and they go out and have a good time. Eventually that expanded to the formal operations of the department so our social media now captures what is our honorary Santa,” Jenkins explained.
A few years ago, at fire station four, it started out as all fun and games but later became a part of the culture.
“We countdown to Christmas using just the number of our stations. It’s lighthearted and a little bit of an opportunity for the community to see some of their tax money at work,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins says firefighters spend about a third of their life working and living in fire stations, so the holidays are special for them.
“I think when you’re away from your family, it’s important to have a culture that makes you excited to come to work. It’s unfortunate that we’re away from our families at the holiday times but we try our best to make it an enjoyable experience with our second family,” Conroy said.
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