Firefighters feeling heat in different way
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Firefighters feeling heat in different way Video by tmj4.com
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IXONIA - The dried out conditions are growing more serious, especially for firefighters.
As drought conditions continue to linger, rural fire departments say they're worried as they watch their water sources literally dry up.
"It's a very scary feeling, it doesn't matter if your fighting a brush fire or a structure fire," Ixonia Fire Department Chief Matt Petrie says.
Flames with no water to put them out. It's especially true for towns like Ixonia where they are no hydrant systems.
"A rural department like ours primarily use water sources such as rivers, ponds and streams," Petrie says.
That water has been increasingly hard to come by in southeast Wisconsin with our area in a severe drought.
"If you have a dry hydrant sticking up out of the water you're not going to be able to pull any water," Petrie says.
With the fire danger high and water levels low, people like Jennifer Schwefel say they're nervous.
"There actually was a fire down on the farm [a couple days ago]," Schwefel says.
Firefighters say that as their resources dry up, they're have to go further to get water. That'll certainly impact response times.
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