TACOMA, Wash. -- This has been one of the hottest and driest summers on record in the state of Washington, causing fires to pop up almost everywhere in the western part of the state.
Central Pierce Fire and Rescue has seen an unprecedented number of fires in the last few weeks and firefighters working to keep up with the pace. According to Assistant Fire Chief Ed Hrivnak, last year the department saw about 34 fires during the July 4th weekend. This year it's much different.
"We had 78 just on July 4th weekend. I haven't even had a chance to tally up the numbers for the last 14 days," he said. "The real contributing factors to this is the dry conditions and the low humidity."
For the department, the overtime and the workload is taking its toll.
"It's starting to wear on the guys and girls. We have to pace ourselves because we have to maintain or tempo all the way. They're predicting until November 1 we won't see any significant rainfall."
And for many firefighter, time spent battling fires is also time lost with loved ones.
"It's summertime. Kids are home from school and you want to spend time with your family and I know my kids have said, 'Are you going to be home this weekend?' because the last couple I have not."
But for the now, the priority is about warning residents.
"We're still into heavy fire season and the threat and risk of another major fire is there. It's very real," said Hrivnak.
