Last week we celebrated National Firefighters Appreciation Day.
Firefighters put their lives on the line every day to save yours.
It has come a long ways from the days when pails and buckets were used to put out a fire.
We asked Manitowoc Assistant Fire Chief Jason Russ about the progress of the way fires are treated today compared to the horse and buggy approach.
“One of the big things is when we look back in history, obviously the amount of water that we were able to pump, it was a lot more labor-intensive,” he explained. “The pumping methods were not as nearly as good as they are today, so that really kind of hindered things.”
Assistant Fire Chief Russ said that so much knowledge in science has been absorbed and not just how to treat fires, but to study fires and how they can act like intruders and run in directions you weren’t aware of.
“There is a science understanding how fire moves understanding temperatures of fires and how things auto ignite,” he noted. “Understanding that if you open a window or break open the window how that ventilation is now going to push that fire through a building.”
As we celebrate national firefighters appreciation day each year we asked if the assistant fire chief what he and his crew would appreciate this upcoming summer.
All he asked is that we all remain “fire conscious”.
“If you’re gonna go out and enjoy campfire you gonna get rid of some yard stuff respect out there for understand how dry it might be,” he said. “Keep the respect and understanding the wind, Just because you like something now doesn’t mean that the wind throw today isn’t gonna pick up and get worse.”
Russ also asked that residents “respect for your neighbors as well because what you might be doing in your yard or something with a campfire or they might have medical reasons or for some kind of respect each other with the things.”