Firefighters are taking a direct hit from the fiery sun as they battle the Post Fire in the midst of a blazing heat wave."Heat is always a safety concern," Kern County Fire Department Spokesman Sean Collins said.
"We carry a lot of weight on our back and guys have chain saws and tools and we're out there for 16 hours a day sometimes," Breckenridge Hot Shot Mike Martinez said.
Hot shot crews walk miles to put containment lines around remote edges of the fire. On their backs, survival kits that weight 50 to 70 pounds and “Meals-Ready-to-Eat in case we get stuck out past this food here,” Martinez said showing 17 News the packed contents of his large backpack, which contains six quarts of water.
Add the heavy load to the extreme weight, to a miles-long hike in the hot fire resistant clothes, along the searing sun and it equals something most people couldn't withstand.
"Some people can do it, some people can't," Martinez said.
