PEA RIDGE — Donning heavy turnout gear to protect them from the flames, firefighters battle heat exhaustion as well as flames, and three firefighters learned that all too well recently.
At a house fire in Pea Ridge last Tuesday, three firefighters suffered from the heat severely enough to be taken to the hospital. All three were transported to Northwest Medical Center, according to Fire Chief Frank Rizzio, were treated, then released.
Turn-out gear can weigh about 25 pounds and is hot even if temperatures are mild. But, when the outside temperatures soar above 100 degrees and the fire is blazing, the potential for harm is very real.
The firefighters were fighting a house fire at 135 Frost St. Tuesday, July 3, when they suffered the effects of the heat. The house, just across the street from the Pea Ridge Fire Department, was the residence of Tony and Mary Beth Carreira.
Mr. Carreira is a teacher at Pea Ridge High School. A fund for the family has been set up at Community First Bank, according toschool superintendent Rick Neal.
One of the injured firefighters, 22-year-old Justin Collins, was working in the station and was one of the first on the scene.
Collins has been with the department nearly five years.
After more than an hour, Collins was sitting beside one of the fire trucks, talking, but making no sense, said his father, assistant fire chief Dino Collins, whohas been on the department for nearly 20 years.
“He got overheated ... he was rambling. He was talking, but not making any sense. His eyes were bloodshot,” the elder Collins said, adding that his son was taken to an air conditioned cab of a truck and given lots of water. Later, when his hands and feet began tingling, the decision was made to take him to the hospital by PeaRidge Ambulance.
Firefighters from Pea Ridge, Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department, Avoca and Little Flock worked together for hours to contain the fire. An advanced life support ambulance from Bentonville was also on the scene.
Rizzio reported that the fire began as a cooking fire, that the resident threw flour on the fire toattempt to extinguish it, and she safely exited the house.
“Remember, always watch what you’re cooking,” Rizzio said, “have a fire extinguisher handy to the kitchen area, have an evacuation plan with your family, practice it.”
“I was on the aerial truck,” the elder Collins said, adding that once a firefighter is running that truck, he must stay with it. He said the truck aided in the fight in that water can be squirted from the hose at the end of the ladder.
“It was an asset.”
Pea Ridge firefighters responded to a fire in Garfield to back up NEBCO firefighters about noon Wednesday, July 4. The home of Jerry and Iva Roberts on Roberts Loop was heavily damaged by the fire. Roberts, 81, is a Navy veteran. He said he moved to the Garfield area in 1968 and built that house in 1972. The four-bedroom house is where he raised his three children.
“The TV blew,” Roberts said, explaining that the television wasoff, he was in another room and when he walked into the living room he saw the television on fire, then it “blew.” He immediately left the house, called 911, and found a spot in the shade to watch.
News, Pages 1 on 07/11/2012