MILLER COUNTY, MO. -- Four firefighters went to the hospital for heat issues after fighting the blaze at Camp Bagnell restaurant Thursday and it's only going to get hotter this weekend.
In our Facebook Story of the Day, KRCG's Meghan Lane spoke with a fire chief to find out how his crew protects themselves from the scorching sun.
"The gear that they wear doesn't allow the body to properly cool itself," Lake Ozark Fire Chief Mark Amsinger said. "The heat is just unbearable sometimes besides the heat of the fire, you've got the heat of your body inside of the gear not able to get cooled off."
A firefighter's gear can weigh anywhere between 30 to 40 pounds.
They have a hard time under the sun's rays and Amsinger said it's very important they stay hydrated.
"What we try to do after they make an initial attack or their first round, we get them out and we send them to rehab and in rehab we have fans, water, things like that and we try to get them cooled back off again," Amsinger said.
Amsinger said during bigger fires like the one at Camp Bagnell the more firefighters the better.
"You can rotate them through and try to keep them fresh and get them properly cooled off and then try to use them a second time if need be," Amsinger said.
It was a tactic Amsinger used to fight the Camp Bagnell fire.
About 10 different fire departments helped put out the blaze at Camp Bagnell Restaurant Thursday.
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