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Extreme cold means metro Detroit firefighters battle flames, ice at same time

Posted at 4:18 PM, Jan 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-03 17:11:12-05

This bitter cold makes it difficult for those who work outside, especially firefighters.

Detroit firefighter Trenece Tolliver said, "Winter makes it difficult."

Tolliver has been a Detroit firefighter for almost 18 years.

"You know it's Michigan, so you can be hot one day and freezing the next."

Today, she and other firefighters battled a house fire and battled the cold temperatures.

"The line being frozen, you have to worry about that. The firefighters being frozen. The rig freezing because we are carrying water."

Two homes went up in flames on Hazelwood Street near Rosa Parks Boulevard overnight.

During this bitter blast, ice forms everywhere.

"Icicles start to form on your face. Tears are frozen," she said.

Trenece says when she is first to a scene, she doesn't think about the cold.

"Your adrenaline is going and I will get out and check the hydrant and I'm running around and everything and then once I get everything set and they are all good, I was like 'oh jeez, I need to put my hat and stuff on because it's cold.'"

Trenece tells us fighting fires in the winter is an unusual feeling because you can be hot and sweating on the inside, but ice can form on the outside of your gear. Once the fire is out, it gets cold, fast.

She added, "Winter is probably worse than summer."