Almost 100 Mass. lawmakers sign on to plea to AG to join suit against makers of fire gear

It took Diane Cotter more than five years to garner the support she and 10 Worcester firefighters needed to successfully file a multi-jurisdictional lawsuit against the makers of firefighter safety gear.

Now dozens of Massachusetts lawmakers have signed a letter urging the state Attorney General to join in and support the class action suit.

“I heard the glorious news,” Cotter said on learning the lawmaker’s letter had been presented to the Attorney General.

The letter, crafted by Sen. Michael O. Moore, D-Millbury, and Rep. Jim Hawkins, D-Attleboro, and signed by 97 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to date, urges Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell to have Massachusetts join in the lawsuit. It also urges Campbell to investigate whether the makers of the gear violated the state’s prohibition on unfair and deceptive trade practices.

“Turnout gear is sold to protect our firefighters; turnout gear that harms our firefighters is fundamentally unfair and deceptive,” Moore alleges in the letter.

A spokesperson for the attorney general issued this statement late in the afternoon:

“AG Campbell is committed to continuing the office’s work at both the state and national level to address PFAS contamination and its significant impacts on Massachusetts residents, including our first responders. We have received the letter, and we are reviewing it.”

The fibers of the gear are treated with “forever chemicals,” PFAS or Polyfluoroalkyl substances, widely used as fire retardants in home and office furnishings, toys and clothing, as well as for non-stick cookware and as a waterproofing agent.

“Even at low levels, the toxicity of PFAS chemicals can be devastating, increasing the risk of cancer, immunosuppression, birth defects, colitis and other diseases,” according to Moore’s missive. He noted that 66% of firefighter deaths are due to cancers and related illnesses.

“Manufacturers know that PFAS are carcinogens, yet the manufacturers producing the gear that protects them from fire, are exposing them to carcinogens,” Moore said in an interview with the Telegram & Gazette. “They must develop a new product that does not use PFAS.”

Cotter’s mission to expose problems with the protective gear that was introduced to the fire service in the late 1990’s came with the death in 2001 of a New Jersey firefighter who had “been steamed to death,” after being trapped under burning debris in the basement of a house.

An examination of his gear revealed that it had deteriorated due to exposure to “severe thermal loading,” according to published reports. That deterioration burned some fibers in the outer layers of the turnout coat, causing what investigators described as a “screen door effect” allowing heat into the inner layers of the coat.

When Cotter read the story, she ran down to the basement to inspect her husband’s turnout gear and, as she had suspected, the fibers appeared to have deteriorated. It was when her husband, Paul, a firefighter since 1988 was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 55 that she started to suspect the gear could not only fail due to use, but that it could also endanger firefighters in the long run.

“How could someone so young be diagnosed with cancer?” Diane Cotter said she asked herself.

The answer revealed that the bunker gear, a mixture of Kevlar and Nomex, is treated with “a staggering amount of  PFAS chemicals.” When it was introduced, it was touted as lighter, more flexible and flame resistant than the rubberized gear it replaced, described by firefighters as nothing more than a heavy raincoat. The older gear protected the emergency responders by forming a physical barrier to flames.

Now, the very tool touted to protect firefighters in the short term, exposed them to long-term harm.

“I worked relentlessly for five years to engage (former Attorney General) Maura Healey to file a suit against the manufacturers,” Cotter said, alleging that the former AG, “chose her political career over Massachusetts firefighters and the state’s taxpayers. She chose to do nothing about the turnout gear.”

In 2022, Healey did file suit against the makers of certain fire-retardant foams, claiming their use was detrimental to the environment.

“But she chose to sue because it’s an environmental issue rather than an IDLH, immediate danger to life or health for firefighters,” Cotter said.

Other obstacles included a former president of the national IAFF International Association. The national organization has since changed leadership and under President Edward Kelly, it has signed on to the suit.

Another roadblock was the reports concerning the toxicity of chemicals that can accumulate on emergency responder gear at the scenes of fires.

“It’s a known science, the products of combustion are harmful,” Cotter said. She claims manufacturers used the information to deny the cancers and other health conditions were caused by the chemical retardants used in the manufacture of the coats. “They said it was the products of combustion that was causing the harm, not the treated fibers.”

Fire departments nationwide started installing commercial-grade washing machines in fire stations and mandating protective gear be cleaned regularly.

“I have seen the water that drains from the machines; it’s black, but what you don’t see are the forever chemicals. They have no color,” Cotter said. The PFAS, shed in wash water, in firefighter lockers in the stationhouses or shed when decommissioned gear is discarded into landfills, also poses an environmental hazard.

“It’s staggering the amount of chemicals used to treat one set of bunker gear; two pounds of chemicals are used,” Cotter said. “The firefighters are wearing two pounds of chemicals,” when responding to incidents.

The Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts has backed Cotter’s mission since she first reached out to the organization that represents more than 12,000 unionized firefighters throughout the state. In addition to signing on to the suit, the organization has proposed legislation that would bar the use of PFAS in the manufacturing of bunker gear.

“We applaud the legislators who signed on to the letter,” said Richard MacKinnon Jr., organization president. “We hope to have the legislation pass early in the new year.”

In some ways, Cotter said, barring the use of PFAS chemicals in turnout gear rewards the manufacturers especially if legislation mandates municipalities to replace the tainted gear with safer alternatives.

“Why should any city or town pay for that?” Cotter wondered, agreeing with the idea that the gear should be replaced free of charge. She also lamented that the manufacturers are not required to establish a compensation fund for firefighters suffering from cancer and other health concerns.

“Firefighters should be able to make personal injury claims,” Cotter said. “Firefighters are being diagnosed with cancer daily, losing their jobs, their incomes, taking early retirements. All this should be taken under consideration.”

Her husband is currently cancer free. although the couple hold their breath twice a year when he has his bloodwork processed.

“He retired 10 years too early,” Cotter said, adding that her husband is still adjusting to life outside of the fire service and the camaraderie of the fire house.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Mass. lawmakers join plea for AG to join suit against fire gear makers