How does winter weather affect firefighters in Austin?

AUSTIN (KXAN) — This week we’ve witnessed a wide range of winter weather throughout Central Texas.

Despite the cold conditions, firefighters in Austin have been working around the clock responding to constant calls.

The week of Jan. 18-24 alone, the Austin Fire Department received 2,254 calls. Many involved helping people locate water shutoff valves along with assisting with fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.

Mark Bridges is a division chief at the AFD. He says 911 calls are constant this time of year.

"Our call volume over the last few days has easily doubled compared to what we normally do,” Bridges said. “Around 90% of that is due to weather-related events."

Firefighters believe this uptick in emergencies is caused by the cold, as plenty of people try to warm up and heat their homes.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, heating equipment is involved in 1 in every 5 home fire deaths.

This is something Bridges has dealt with daily.   

"We’ve responded to chimney fires, attic fires and some warming fires that got out of control,” Bridges said. “Space heaters were too close to combustibles."

Fire isn’t the only element firefighters are up against, as they’ve adapted despite icy equipment.

AFD assistant chief Andre de la Reza says his staff has learned lessons from severe storms in the past.

"What we saw in Winter Storm Mara and Winter Storm Uri is that there's times where we'll actually have our hydrants freeze up,” he said.

"We have to make sure that any apparatus that we normally have outside is inside our fire station, where it stay above freezing,” Bridges added.

Braving blistering cold with temperatures in the teens at times, the firefighters’ duty and dedication remain the same.

"The way we approach firefighting doesn't really change whether it's 110 degrees or whether it's 15 degrees outside,” Bridges concluded.

If you're using space heaters inside your home, AFD is asking that you keep them at least 3 feet away from other objects.

Firefighters are also emphasizing the importance of having annual inspections on your fireplace and chimney.