BRECKENRIDGE, Colo.
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Firefighters had to fight frostbite as they fought a fire in Breckenridge Wednesday night.
Firefighters with the Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District were called to a condominium fire in the Cedars neighborhood about 11:30 p.m. At the time, the temperature was -26 degrees.
"Our firefighters have been asked to go beyond the call of duty with some pretty difficult emergencies," said Fire Chief Gary Green. "We train for cold weather operations, but -26 degrees is ridiculous."
When firefighters arrived, they said they saw flames burning on the roof of the building next to the chimney and heavy smoke and heat inside the building.
Inside, firefighters had to tear down part of a wall to get to the fire while outside firefighters used a ladder truck to cut a hole in the roof, officials said.
Despite the emergency situation, Commander Russ Austin had to track how long each firefighter was exposed to the cold and alternate the firefighters to an area to warm up.
"We are happy that no one was hurt or injured and that we were able to make a quick attack on the fire," said Austin. "The weather certainly played into our safety concerns, but we kept moving and stayed on top of it."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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