It's 90 degrees outside today.
Inside parts of some Columbus fire stations?
Firefighters say it feels like a giant hot box.
With no air conditioning, they're sweating through uniforms while trying to sleep, eat, recover, and prepare for the next emergency call.
These are the people expected to perform CPR on your child, carry your grandmother down stairs, force entry into burning buildings, and make life-or-death decisions at 3 a.m.
The city expects them to operate at their best, yet some are working and recovering in conditions that make that harder every day.
City leaders need to stop treating basic station conditions as a future discussion and fix them now. Safe, functional fire stations are not optional—they are part of providing reliable emergency services to the public.
Columbus has the resources and the responsibility to address this problem immediately. Residents should demand a clear timeline, transparent accountability, and action from city officials until every firefighter has a station that supports the critical work they are asked to do every day.