This summer has been particularly bad when it comes to wildfires, with large sections of Arizona, Colorado and Idaho all having to battle intense blazes. Oklahoma is the latest state to experience the fires, and the state's first responders are beginning to feel the heavy toll of the emergency, The Oklahoman reports.
The impact was felt the most in Norman, where the city's fire chief James Fullingim said not only are his department's resources wearing thin, but the firefighters themselves are becoming worn out due to the extremely long shifts caused by the wildfires. While they usually work 12 hours at a time, that has changed.
"In this case, that didn't happen," he told the newspaper. "We had many people who were out there for 20-plus hours."
While the situation is intense, so far only one Norman firefighter has been injured during the blaze, and it was due to a sprained ankle and possible broken foot rather than heat-related wounds. Additionally, the fires may soon be on their way out thanks to cooler temperatures as of late.
Norman is not the only city to experience the wildfire in Oklahoma. According to Reuters, there are at least 18 across the state and the fires have burned around 68,000 acres.