Firefighters Battle Exhaustion With Wildfire Flames: ‘You Can’t Breathe, You Can’t See’

Firefighters Battle Exhaustion With Wildfire Flames: ‘You Can’t Breathe, You Can’t See’
Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

They work 50 hours at a stretch and sleep on gymnasium floors. Exploding trees shower them with embers. They lose track of time when the sun is blotted out by smoke, and they sometimes have to run for their lives from advancing flames.

Firefighters rest during a wildfire in Yucaipa, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo)
Firefighters rest during a wildfire in Yucaipa, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo