Firefighters didn’t sign up for the job thinking it would be easy, but a raging wildfire season combined with a spiking pandemic has taken things to a new level.

From transporting COVID-positive patients to the hospital to the impossibility of social distancing in a fire station where they essentially live for 24 hours at a time, one firefighter said the challenges are multiplied right now.

Mark Burdick is the chief of the Buckeye Valley Fire District, and he said that for small fire departments like his, the pandemic has led to a funding challenge, too. The Show spoke with him for more about the situation.

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