Firefighters train extensively to battle flames - and many are now training to battle cancer. The Lehigh Acres Fire Department is among the first department in Southwest Florida to train with decontamination kits to reduce their risk of exposure to the carcinogens in smoke and soot from structure fires.
The toxic soot can seep into firefighters' skin, get into their bloodstreams - and can eventually cause cancer.
A $1 million grant from the State of Florida has made "decontamination buckets" - which are filled with cleaning gear - available to firefighters. They include small hoses that can hook up to their trucks' water supply with a special attachment, to allow them to wash the toxic soot off of their uniforms and gear.
The kits also include large plastic bags to seal the gear, so that it doesn't contaminate a fire truck's cab with carcinogens on the way back to a fire station.
"Then they'll come back to the station, swap their gear out, and clean and decontaminate that gear further," said Robert DiLallo, chief for the Lehigh Acres Fire Department.
DiLallo has fought countless fires in his 27-year career, but it was his fight with cancer - with which he was diagnosed after only eight years on the job - that has taken the biggest toll.
"Consulting with my doctors, they were very confident that my exposure in the fire service to commercial carginogens, through absorption in my bunker gear, was the cause of my cancer," he said.
Heather Mazurkiewicz of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network conducted training sessions with Lehigh firefighters this week.
"We're looking to educate firefighters on things they can do on scene to reduce their risk of being diagnosed (with cancer)," she said.
Cancer claimed the lives of more than two hundred firefighters in 2017. Mazurkiewicz hopes that number drops sharply in the future as more firefighters get equipped to scrub themselves down at the scene of every blaze they battle.
"To decontaminate and get these carcinogens off of us, and away from our skin, is going to make a huge difference down the road," Mazurkiewicz said.
