The gear we wear weighs about 50 pounds. The clothes are called “turn-outs” or “bunker” gear as they originally were turned inside out and kept next to bunks to facilitate a quick change at night. The turnouts are made of a material called Nomex which is fire retardant but not fireproof, so it will burn. We must be able to put our turnouts on in less than a minute. And yes, it does get rather warm in the summer as we must wear this gear when responding to structure fires, hazardous materials incidents, and traffic accidents.