Busy Keystone Firefighters Need Help Restocking Supplies

Fire departments across the state are recovering after a busy holiday weekend.

Many were called to fires or medical emergencies on the Fourth of July, and volunteers at one Tulsa County fire department said it's drained their supplies.

Volunteer firefighters at Keystone had a very busy weekend and were called out of the station almost a dozen times over the weekend.

While it doesn't sound like too much, the increase in calls didn't only deplete their energy, but some necessary supplies.

When firefighters are battling fires in the summer heat, a stack of bottled water can go quickly, according to Captain David Tidwell with the Keystone Fire Department.

"With the heat and humid yesterday, it just doesn't take long and the heat takes it right out of you," he said.

Assistant Chief, Leroy Nichols said, "It takes a lot of energy dragging the hose and then you have to wear your air pack inside. It takes a lot out of you.”

Nichols and his brother-in-law Tidwell both responded to a fire that destroyed the home of Lynn Riggs; she heard the explosion.

"It was very loud, it was scary loud," she said. “I thought it was a fire work.”

Firefighters said a propane tank on the wood deck started the fire.

“It just started covering the whole house, it was eight feet in the air," Riggs said.

It was the seventh call for Keystone Volunteer Firefighters that day.

Before the house fire, there was a small grass fire started by fireworks.

“The homeowner saw it, so they started fighting it and called us," Nichols said.

And before that call, the volunteer firefighters helped someone at Pier 51 at Keystone Lake who injured their back while riding in a boat.

Keystone firefighters typically respond to one call a day, so the high volume of calls over the Fourth of July was more than they expected.

"I've lived out here all of my life and I like giving back to the community,” Tidwell said.

And it's times like this when they need the community’s help to help restock their supplies.

"We usually like Gatorade and also snacks, something that we can grab real quick for energy and they usually go real fast," Nichols said.

They also burned through a lot of gas this weekend; almost all of the firefighters have full-time jobs to manage as well.

Most of them were already off from those because of the holiday, which allowed them to be able to respond quickly to all the calls over the weekend.