How a $15 million grant will help protect firefighters from carcinogens

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Firefighters who risk their lives for their community are often exposed to carcinogens in the line of duty.

They’re 14% more likely to die from cancer than the average person, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

“That’s one of the No. 1 killers,” said Todd Stevenson, the deputy chief for the Cascade Township Fire Department. “A lot of times you hear firefighters after they retire, they die from one or two years of cancer. That’s one of the main concerns of the fire service right now.”

The problem is modern homes are now built with more synthetic and plastic materials, which release more carcinogens into the air when they burn.

“The contaminants stay in your turnout gear after the fire,” Stevenson said. “If you don’t wash that, it just starts soaking into your system, getting into your body and your bloodstream that way.”

Michigan now intends to give nearly $15 million in grants to 187 fire departments across the state. Fire departments will be able to buy a second set of turnout gear for full-time firefighters. Instead of wearing gear covered in contaminants the whole day, firefighters can immediately switch to clean gear when they get back from a call.

“It used to be everyone wanted the dirty gear because that looked cool,” Stevenson said. “But now it’s like, ‘Hey I need to get my gear cleaned, I need to get myself cleaned.’ Having that new gear, we’ll be able to do that.”

The Grand Rapids Fire Department got the largest slice of the grant with about $640,000. Wyoming got $136,500, Norton Shores received $87,500, Holland received $77,000, Kentwood got $66,500, among other departments in our area.

Cascade Township is getting $63,000, allowing them to buy new gear for 18 firefighters. The township opened a nearly $11 million state-of-the-art station last November, designed to keep firefighters safe by separating their gear coated with carcinogens from where they live.

The department has hot, warm and cold zones for protection. When firefighters return from a call to service, they drop off their gear in the hot zone. After that, they take it into the warm zone, where there are various cleaning machines that remove possible carcinogens from a firefighter’s gear. They then hang up their gear in a room separated away from their living quarters, which is where they live, sleep, eat and train.

The station also has UV lights in its gym, kitchen and bunk rooms to clean surface areas from contaminants. It also has air purifiers where their fire trucks start up.

The extra gear is just another way to keep firefighters safe.

“Having two sets of gear is a huge step in cancer prevention and the wellness of firefighters, being able to keep contaminants away from our body and keeping our gear clean and being able to switch out with clean gear,” Stevenson said.

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