WYOMING, Mich. — Frozen hydrants, blowing snow, and below freezing temperatures hampered Wyoming firefighters' efforts to battle last week's devastating Crossroads Apartments fire that destroyed 35 units, leaving only rubble behind.
Fire Chief Dennis Van Tassell said weather conditions created significant challenges for crews responding to the blaze. Road conditions delayed their arrival, and frozen hydrants prevented them from getting water on the fire quickly.
"We had some really good things that were occurring for us. We had some things that were not necessary in our favor. One was the weather, just with blowing snow, and as cold as it was," Van Tassell said.
The chief explained that frozen hydrants, walking through nearly a foot of snow, and traffic caused delayed response times.
"So all of those things kind of combined to make our extinguishment efforts lot slower than they should have been," Van Tassell said.
Fighting fires in below-freezing temperatures creates additional obstacles for firefighters beyond just reaching the scene.
"With that extra cold and water, everything that we wear gets wet, it gets a little bit heavier. Snow sticks to it," Van Tassell said. "It's not just the fire hose, it's not just the ladders that we have to carry and getting through maybe a foot of snow, but our air packs. So, suddenly our air supply that we need in a fire is now frozen."
The cold weather has impacted fire department operations across all shifts. Van Tassell said crews ran almost 200 calls last week, with 19 structure fire tone outs and nine actual working structure fires.
"The cold did affect all of our shifts across the board," VanTassell said.
Extended time on scene in frigid conditions creates safety concerns for firefighters themselves.
"We are on scene for quite a while, at times, and we just want to make sure that we don't have hypothermia, we don't have fatigue. When people start getting fatigued, they start have a more potential for injuries that way," Van Tassell said.
VanTassell, who has been fighting fires for over two decades, said the department has strategies to help crews manage winter conditions.
"We provide two sets of gear, so that helps, because once we do have a fire, then come back, switch out and have a fresh set of gear so it's not wet, it's not going to freeze immediately once they get out of there," Van Tassell said.
The fire remains under investigation. VanTassell warns neighbors using alternate heat sources to stay warm to exercise caution.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
