South Charleston firefighters have cool new tool that could save lives

  • Source: WSAZ-TV NBC 3
  • Published: 09/19/2018 12:25 AM

The South Charleston Fire Department has new portable showers to take on the road when crews respond to fire calls. The chief says it's a very inexpensive tool that can potentially save lives. In the past, the firefighters would finish up at the scene of a fire, and just head back -- washing their gear back at the station. During that wait time, though, firefighters are exposed to cancer-causing agents. According to the Firefighter Cancer Support network, cancer caused 70 percent of the line-of-duty deaths for career firefighters in 2016. South Charleston Fire Chief Virgil White says saving others has always been the priority and now, with this new tool, they can take care of themselves, too. "It's just very important that firefighters take this very serious. They need to take into consideration having different avenues of gear decontamination and taking care of themselves," White said.



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