The Fresno County Sheriff's Office said the deputies were working to eradicate an illegal marijuana grow at the top of the Four Lanes.
Three deputies were treated for heat related illness and are now expected to be okay. The men were part of a special investigations unit that identified illegal marijuana grows.
The Sheriff's Office said seven deputies were working to cut down two illegal marijuana grows Friday One grow had more than 8,000 plants. The other illegal marijuana grow site had more than 21,000. These deputies spend hours and even days in this heat identifying those grows, and then cut them down.
The work is very labor intensive and it can be extremely hot. After 3 p.m. three deputies started feeling overwhelmed in this heat. They stopped sweating, started cramping and feeling dizzy.
" This is the third day in a row w have been eradicating marijuana. With temperatures over a hundred over the last couple of days they are out here in the sun conducting physical manual labor," said Lt. Rick Ko from the Fresno County Sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office has nearly 300 illegal grows identified so they will continue to work on in these temperatures all summer. They take every complaint in this heat very seriously, because it could potential be very dangerous, even deadly.
