The past week’s structure fires that gave three firefighters dehydration or other issues both happened on warm, sunny days. But according to area fire chiefs, fighting a fire can take a physical toll regardless of the temperature.

“It can happen no matter what time of year it is, even in the dead of winter,” South Bristol Fire Chief Mark Carrothers said.

Part of the reason is the protective gear. It’s lighter than it once was but carries the double-edged sword of keeping heat in as well as out,   Carrothers said. Wearing it while doing physically demanding tasks can take a lot out of a person in a short time, he said.

“The human body can only take so much, and the physical work is so great, you have to make sure you’re staying hydrated,” Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter said.

To help ward off exhaustion and dehydration, snacks and bottled water are available on-scene, Carrothers said. If firefighters go in a burning building, they can go through two air bottles and then have to go through an on-scene “rehab,” a break for food, water, rest and a check by medical personnel, he said.

In separate interviews, Potter, Carrothers and Newcastle Fire Chief Clayton Huntley said a crucial part of minimizing problems is that, while working at a fire scene, firefighters are watching out for one another, noticing if someone’s having an issue and then getting them help.

“Being a firefighter, it’s a brotherhood. And part of that is everybody’s always watching out for everybody,” Potter said.

It also helps to get firefighters in the habit of staying hydrated during training, Potter said. That’s part of the value in a training, or controlled, burn of a building. “When you’re training, you’re pushing the water, because (in an emergency), you’re going to perform the way that you’ve trained,” he said.