A special event was held at Rock Bottom Brewery benefiting local firefighters Thursday evening, March 8. The event was a fundraiser for Local 215’s Firefighter Cancer Prevention Initiative. The initiative educates the public of the cancer risk for our firefighters and equipping firehouses with washers and dyers. With the new appliances, crews can wash their gear right after emergency calls — washing away carcinogens left behind. Organizers say they’ve supplied machines to about 16 firehouses so far. “We want to have firefighters stay on the job as long as they can and retire when they want to and not because they have to because they’ve contracted cancer from their exposure,” said Firefighters Auxiliary President Cat Zyniecki.