Flames Aren’t The Only Dangerous Thing Firefighters Face

ABERDEEN and STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Firefighters have dangerous jobs and put their lives at risk daily.

Over recent years, some of those risks have cost the lives firefighters.

The risks come from their every day jobs, what they breathe in and what soaks into their skin when they’re fighting flames.

Over the last decade, fire departments have grown more aware of those harms and are taking more preventative measures now, than ever.

“When you’re dealing with the fire, one would think that as firemen run into a burning building, that’s the number one cause of all death,” says Captain Norris James of the Aberdeen Fire Department.

But that’s not the case.

Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough says heartattacks are actually the number one cause of death firefighters face.

However, he says cancer is moving up the ranks.

“Carcinogens. Actually, the stuff that we have in our gear. The stuff that is burning in the house. If we don’t take care of ourselves and take care of the gear and we keep it on too long, we actually breath that stuff in and the next thing you know, like I said, ten years down the road, after you’ve retired, after you gave your whole life, 25 years in the service to the community, next thing you know, you are fighting for your life with cancer,” said Chief Yarbrough.

Yarbrough says research shows firefighters have a 250% higher chance of getting cancer than an average person.

The alarming rate is causing fire departments across the country to take more proactive measures.

Fire wipes are becoming a popular commodity.

“When you get done at the scene, you take these, you open them up and you actually clean yourself while you are on the scene. Take your gear off and clean yourself while you’re on the scene, because if you think about it, we’re on scene for an hour or two hours with our gear on. We’re still breathing that stuff in, so we tell people to keep your mask on, clean while you’re on scene, make sure when you get back to the station, you do a thorough wash. You take a thorough shower between fires.”

Elliott Johnson has been fighting fires for two years and says the fire academy is also pushing extra safety measures.

“Washing your hands, you know, maybe washing, because sometimes you may come out of a fire and you may have smut on you, you know, in your nose. Sometimes, just taking a good bath, washing your gear, washing and taking a bath right after and not waiting,” said Johnson.

And in between rushing out to fires and touching equipment, more of these items are placed around fire departments.

“Soap dispensers, Lysol wipes, disinfection spray, dish detergent. We keep it just about in every room or section in the fire department.

We try to keep it everywhere on the truck, sometimes we keep disinfectant spray,” said Johnson.