West Virginia fire departments combat cancer risks, but not all can afford life-saving changes
Lt. Jason Fleak (left) stands by a gear drying rack he constructed at the Parkersburg Fire Department. Protective gear is now washed after each fire encounter to minimize exposure to toxins. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | West Virginia Watch)
Cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty death among firefighters.
West Virginia firefighters are aware of the risk, but tight budgets — particularly for the hundreds of volunteer fire departments — make it difficult or impossible to make changes that could help save lives.
Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens coming from fires due to increased petroleum products in homes. There's also linking their flame-repellent gear to cancer risk. The protective gear's fabric contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals or PFAs, known as the "forever chemical." PFAs have been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other health problems.
Lt. Jason Fleak with the Parkersburg Fire Department can detail the changes he has made at the station to hopefully minimize cancer risk. They've added cancer hoods to their gear; a local womens' group provided them since they were about $100 a piece.
After a fire, his crew uses cleansing wipes on their faces and hands while still on the scene. Back at the station, Fleak recommends responders take the hottest shower they can stand.
"When you sweat in that gear, your pores open up and all the carcinogens go in. And when you're done sweating, your pores close up," said Fleak, who has been on the job 24 years. "So, when you get in the hot shower, the pores open back up and allow you to flush carcinogens out. That's the big key."
Parkersburg Fire Department started supplying second sets of uniforms for its firefighters. With another set, uniforms can get washed right after a fire, Fleak said, so the potentially-harmful chemicals don't sit on the gear and linger on the wearer. He built a specialized rack out of PVC pipe and sandwiched in between fans in the firehouse to expedite drying time.
When lawmakers visited Parkersburg in September, Fleak detailed how combating cancer was a top need for the state's firefighters. He said that most volunteer fire departments wouldn't have the funds to purchase additional gear.
Earlier this year, lawmakers gave financially-troubled VFDs $12 million from the state lottery fund . VFDs account for 90% of the state's fire departments and often rely on boot drives, fundraiser dinners and donations to stay afloat.
Mark Stewart, chief of the Lubeck VFD in Wood County, said the extra money from lawmakers has helped. Annual state money and a local fire fee help fund his department, which responds to three or four calls a day in the area.
While his VFD has made changes to combat cancer rates, tight budgets limit what can be done. There are other things that have to be paid for, he said like a new fire engine that costs around $1 million.
One set of turnout gear can run from $4,000 up to $6,500.
"It's hard enough to supply everyone with turnout gear. There is really no way we can fund two sets of gear for everyone so they have an extra set to change into," Stewart said.
Toxic gear linked to firefighter deaths
Turnout gear, including firefighters' jackets, pants, boots, gloves and other protective equipment, is treated heavily with PFAs that makes it resistant to water and heat. The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) cancer from turnout gear accounted for 66% of firefighter deaths from 2002 to 2019.
PFAs-free gear isn't yet readily available. The IAFF several manufacturers have incorporated a non-fluorinated moisture barrier along with a PFAS-free repellent outer shell coating.
South Charleston Fire Chief Virgil White said he anticipates the cost of new gear free of PFAs to be "extremely high." Right now, he's able to afford a second set of gear for his crew.
"That's the sad thing. They want us to be safer for our jobs, but they don't have any mechanism in place to do so," he said. "The manufacturers are not doing any favors by coming up with cancer-free gear because it costs so much to do that so you can't outfit your department. It's going to be very hard for departments to afford cancer-free fire gear."
In the meantime, firefighters in West Virginia are trying to combat cancer through ways they can afford, including pushing firefighters to take extremely hot showers. Some departments have installed saunas with bicycles to allow firefighters to hopefully sweat out the toxins from the PFAs after combatting a fire.
"We have cleaning aids such as certain soaps that are specialized in getting carcinogens out of skin," White said. "If the guys fight a fire, they can use the soap to get cleaned up."
White also said his department had changed the type of foam it uses as PFAs are still found in some types of firefighting foams.
Fire departments screen for cancer
While White would like to see lawmakers help firefighters combat cancer rates through funding, he noted many first responder-focused bills — including asking lawmakers to address PTSD for first responders — have faced an uphill battle.
"[Lawmakers] tout our fire departments and how great we are, but it's basically lip service," he said. "There are legislators who want to help and they're trying to get those bills through to help us out but the majority won't let it happen. Some of these bills don't even make it out of committee. It's very disheartening."
A bill introduced this year by Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, would have required the state to provide multi-cancer early detection testing to firefighters at no cost to the departments. The bill never made it out of the House Health Committee.
State law permits firefighters to apply for workers' compensation and other benefits due to cancer that may be presumed to have been incurred as a result of being a professional firefighter. Lawmakers this year added three additional types of cancer — leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma — as types that can be incurred on the job.
White tries to test every firefighter in his department for cancer annually. The record of tests are key to firefighters being able to file for benefits, he said.
Fleak is getting ready to begin pre-screenings for cancer at his department in Parkersburg. One test could detect 50 types of cancer, he said, but would cost more than $600.
He's looking at one that tests for 29 types.
"It's $200 a person, but that's what our budget will handle," he said. "My thing is early detection. If it saves one person, that's worth whatever money we spend."
