Frigid temperatures create challenges for firefighters

Fires happened in Danville, Martinsville, Roanoke on Monday

DANVILLE, Va. – When Danville firefighters go into a burning home like the one in the 400 block of Melrose Drive on Monday morning, they wear masks to help them see and breathe.

Danville Fire Department Battalion Chief Dean Fowler said the cold weather, though, can make visibility tough.

"The adjustment from being in the hot and coming out to the cold, the mask will fog up. Or vice versa, when they're going in, they're going to have some fogging," Fowler said.

Impaired visibility along with extreme temperatures can make for a stressful situation.

"There's a lot more stress on them due to them having to fight the cold when they're outside and the heat when they're inside," Fowler said.

Despite the stress, firefighters made quick work of the fire.

No one lives in the house.

An employee with a contract crew doing work on the outside says when he came back from the hardware store this morning, the garage was on fire.

He said a different contract crew was doing work on the inside of the house.

Roanoke Fire Department Lt. Stephen Curry said freezing water is perhaps the biggest challenge firefighters face in cold weather.

"We've got hoses and water in our pumps and trucks. That water has to go somewhere. Oftentimes, it leaks around the trucks and it creates little ice pools," Curry said. "That's certainly a hazard as we're trying to move around."

Just after 5:30 a.m. Monday, Roanoke firefighters responded to a home on Bainbridge Drive.

One man was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Another woman escaped and some puppies were rescued from the house by firefighters, but a dog died.

There was also a fire on Corn Tassel Trail in Martinsville around 7:30 a.m. Monday.

According to the fire department, the cold weather caused the brakes on one of the firetrucks to freeze.