NEW ORLEANS — As Jefferson Parish firefighters battled flames at a Metairie dental clinic Monday, fire crews in Orleans Parish were keeping an eye on a woods fire.
“It’s inaccessible to our apparatuses and ground units and currently we are monitoring the situation,” said Captain Edwin Holmes.
Smoke billowed from a Bayou Bienvenue woods fire for hours Monday near the St. Bernard Parish line.
“We did get a little rain. That helped a little, but not significant enough to put the fire out,” said Holmes.
It was a similar scene Friday in New Orleans East when a grass fire started burning near the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.
“It’s completely dry right now. Most of us know, we walk outside, our lawn crunches,” said Holmes.
Holmes says extreme heat is a big part of the problem, fueling grass and house fires that continue to burn from the Southshore to the Northshore. The governor’s office reported about 260 wildfires across the state so far this summer.
“Every summer this is pretty common for us, but I’ve got to admit this summer has added a bit more significance because it’s been so dry,” said Holmes.
The heat makes battling all those fires even tougher for the men and women who suit up.
“Every day it’s something,” said Tangipahoa Parish District One fire chief J.D. Stevens.
Stevens says his firefighters have battled numerous brush fires over the last couple of weeks.
“We’ve got a good crew and they hang in there. You don’t realize you did too much until it’s too late,” said Stevens.
That’s what happened last weekend when a firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion when battling a house fire.
“It was a scary feeling to see to see one of your own men just got out like that,” said Stevens.
In Jefferson Parish firefighters were being rotated when a used car lot when up in flames last week.
“We’re very fortunate, a class one department, we have plenty people for this type of fire. If not, we could be sending these guys to the hospital,” said Jefferson Parish assistant fire chief Tye Mire.
Despite the dangers, Holmes says it’s part of a job that firefighters will continue to face.