Firefighters were pushed to their limits in Fresno on Memorial Day. Fresno's fire department stopped responding to medical calls for more than four hours this afternoon because firefighters were tied up battling multiple fires. From apartment fires to brush fires Fresno firefighters were so busy and impacted by the heat they needed Clovis fire crews to help cover the city. We have helmet cam video from a firefighter as he arrived at one of those fires.
As Fresno firefighters rushed to a burning apartment building in west Fresno near Marks and Dakota people near the fire were scrambling to evacuate.
"We came right away over to this place to knock on everybody's doors to get everyone out," said Pablo Torres, who was working nearby. From the view of a firefighter's helmet cam the crew makes the dangerous journey up a ladder and onto the roof of the burning apartment building.
"Truck 9 was the first truck to get there and was assigned to ventilate the roof," said Fresno Fire Department Deputy Chief Todd Tuggle.
Using a tool to test the stability of the roof the firefighters make their way over the top of one of the burning apartments, then it's time to cut open the roof.