Lakeland Fire Department to limit use of bunker gear made with cancer-causing chemicals

Lakeland firefighters will soon be spotted responding to calls in their uniforms as often as they are in their iconic, yellow bunker gear.

Lakeland Fire Department is rolling out a combination of policy and behavioral changes to limit its firefighters' exposure to cancer-causing chemicals. Firefighters' bunker, or turnout gear, is the personal protective equipment including a helmet, jacket, pants and boots worn to respond to a fire or other emergencies.

Fire Chief Doug Riley said in the past few years, studies have shown per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, known commonly as "forever chemicals," are found in layers of bunker gear. PFAS include a list of hundreds of chemicals, according to Riley, some of which studies have determined to be cancer-causing or carcinogenic.

"There’s been a lot of attention gained about PFAS in that last two years," Riley said. "Originally the focus was on what's in the water and how it affects water supplies and what it's used in. For us, it's used in the manufacture of turnout gear."

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'Time has long passed'

The International Association of Fire Fighters and the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association issued a joint statement in August stating there are "adverse health risks" associated with donning firefighting gear.

"The International Association of Fire Fighters and the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association stand shoulder to shoulder in our combined efforts to rid occupational cancer from the fire service. The time has long passed for occupational cancer to be accepted as 'part of the job.' You can do your part, and we urge you to take these steps to reduce your exposure," reads its statement.

Cancer is a leading cause of death among firefighters. Firefighters face a 9% increase in cancer diagnoses and 14% increase in cancer-related deaths, according to a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Since Congress established the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act in 2018, Riley said Lakeland Fire Department has had three members diagnosed with cancer.

Shannon Turbeville, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 4173, representing Lakeland's unionized firefighters, driver engineers and lieutenants, sent an email in January asking LFD officials to review the city's current policies for best practices to limit exposure.

It launched a series of emails and conversations about whether Lakeland Fire Department could improve its policies and practices to better protect the safety of its members.

"We’ve been able to make modifications when our personnel are wearing turnout gear," the chief said. "The less you put it on, the less exposure you will have to PFAS."

Limiting the time in gear

Changes to LFD's Policy 2100.130 "Response to Automatic Fire Alarms Code" will no longer require firefighters to wear their bunker gear out when responding to fire alarms where a dispatcher has received information confirming it's a false alarm and no actual emergency exists, Riley said.

"If a call from our dispatcher gives our officers on call any suspicion or an uneasy feeling, the lead truck will be in bunker gear," he said.

The chief said he has scheduled sit-down meetings with his officers and supervisors starting April 25 to discuss some behavioral changes around the firehouse. Firefighters will be instructed to wear their uniforms, rather than their bunker gear, when responding to most medical calls and during physical fitness exercises.

"If it's after hours and one of our guys or girls is working out in the gym in shorts and shirt, sometimes it's convenient to throw bunker gear on to respond to a call quickly," he said. "We are going to ask them not to do that anymore."

Riley said the department will continue to evaluate different situations where firefighters will be expected to wear turnout gear and where it is not a necessity. This will include modifying some of the department's current training routines that require PPE gear to be worn.

"We stand with the fire administration in this needed cultural change in what we know today about our gear," Turbeville said, speaking for the union.

Leading a statewide effort

Riley serves as president of the Florida Fire Chiefs Association through July. He said the organization is having ongoing discussions about best-practice recommendations. He said the fire chiefs are part of Florida Fire Fighters Safety & Health Collaborative and will meet as a committee to put out a recommendation on the best practices on wearing of bunker gear.

"We don’t have authority to enforce," the chief said. "We only give best-practice recommendations."

Riley said he hopes to do it in conjunction with the state fire marshal's office, stating that often gives the recommendations more authority and weight.

Riley said he'd love to purchase equipment that doesn't contain these cancer-causing PFAS, but unfortunately it's not possible.

"I can’t buy gear without PFAs in it, I don’t have another alternative," he said. "We have to use what we have for now. We need some continued pressure from all organizations collectively to have them figure out and come out with a way to manufacture gear without PFAs."

Riley and Turbeville said they think it's going to take legislation to get manufacturers to find a way to produce protective gear without causing-causing PFAS.

The IAFF has filed a lawsuit against the National Fire Protection Association in Massachusetts claiming its testing standards are part of the reason carcinogenic materials are used in manufacturing firefighters' protective gear, as Boston.com reports.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland aims to limit firefighters exposure to chemicals in gear