When on the scene of a building fire, Michael McKeehan’s firefighting role stations him outside — where he is likely breathing in cancer-causing toxins with no protection.
McKeehan is a driver operator with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. To extinguish a fire, it’s the captain and firefighter on his engine who typically go inside the building and are outfitted with the proper respiratory equipment.
But a recent grant award will bring McKeehan and his colleagues some relief. With $98,807 from FEMA and $9,880 of department money, county fire rescue will buy 149 single gas monitors that will notify firefighters, including ones stationed outside blazes, when harmful gases, known as volatile organic compounds, are bombarding them.