The city of Delaware just put in a state-of-the-art decontamination room in its new firehouse. This is a practice that departments everywhere are moving toward.
The Columbus Firefighters Local 67 said plans on the new firehouse were redrawn to include decontamination measures but more needs to be done, especially with the old stations.
“We have to retroactively get these firehouses outfitted with contamination control,” said Local 67 Vice President Steve Stein. “Within the fire service, we’re dealing with a cancer epidemic. Our members are still contracting cancer at increased rates.”
Delaware Fire points to the newer building materials as a big problem. The synthetic products contain more chemicals, which are more harmful when they burn.