Oklahoma Firefighter (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 34, No. 6, Ed. 1 Tuesday, August 1, 2017 Page: 13 of 36
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum.
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FACING CANCER
Continued
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MF SOTHE I IOMA
MUI rIPI F MYELOMA
3 weeks
: Average length of time
between new cancer
diagnoses among
: firefighters in the Boston
i Fire Department
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Number of firefighter
line-of-duty cancer
deaths reported
from 2002 to 2016
according to the IAFF
firefighters, for the following < ane er
190
Mumber of Bonton
firefighters
who have died from
occupational cancer
since 1990
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61
Percent of line of duty
firefighter deaths from
2002 to 2016 caused
by occupational cancer,
according to the IAFF
Hl.- r ved in
( klahoma I irefighter | Augunt 2017 | | j
doing to my family? What am I doing to my-
self and the people who are being left behind when I die’
That is the message we need to keep harping on
Sometimes the reality speaks for itself. Since the debut
of the video, at least one of the stricken firefighters inter-
viewed, Mark Matthews, has died, leaving behind a wife
and two children. When Finn visited him in the hospital
two days before his death, Matthews asked his wife to leave
the room. He took Finn's hand and told him, "Don't let my
death be in vain."
Like all the cancer victims interviewed in the video,
and so many other older firefighters in Boston, Matthews
believed passionately in the new direction of the depart-
ment. While several firefighters told me there was still some
reluctance in the ranks to change, Finn told me there has
been virtually no pushback from the department's veteran
members.
"It has been just the opposite -- they understand. They
know what we're talking about. They've buried way too
many friends, and they've seen the human suffering of the
children and the widows," Finn said. "The challenge is the
younger generation—they want to prove themselves and
act like they've been here since 1965. It’s up to the company
officers to step up and make sure the younger firefighters
are following best practices. By being leaders and doing
their jobs they're going to save these kids' lives."
Glenn Preston didn't have anyone in his ear telling him
about the dangers of smoke when he joined the Boston
ranks as a 23-year-old rookie back in 2000. Nobody during
his training at the Massachusetts Fire Academy so much as
even mentioned the word cancer, he said.
As a result, Preston doesn't get out to his old firehouse
in South Boston much these days. For months, his schedule
sludies sigmfic intiyincreanedr v
or more age proupt, studied or । i
Fire Service Cancer
STATS& FACTS
Three koy firefighter < ane er atudiet r onrii ted or ll
has been consumed by a cycle of weeklong < hemotherapy
sessions in the hospital, followed by two weeks ot rcovery
at home in Danvers Massachusetts But he was mcently
back in a tire station with his old gear and a smile on his
face, kindly stopping be with his toe year old daughtet
Grace tor a photo shoot and to talk about his > am ei w ith
me
After the shoot still wearing his bunker gear he was
polite but noticeably fatigued I le needed w atet he told me
and instinctively started tor the kitchen rhen he abruptly
stopped. I can't wear this stuff in ther, he said to himselt
even though his coat and pants were clean and hadn t been
used in months A friend grabbed a glass of walei toi him
Later, Rich Paris stopped me in the kite lien l hat i ight
there is what's different in the Boston Fire Department
he said, nodding toward Preston "A couple of years ago
there'd be six guys lounging around this kite hen with dirty
gear and helmets laying everywhere." Now, the guy who
just a year ago wouldn't use air at a tire until he was < hok
ing on smoke won't even wear his clean turnout gear into a
firehouse kitchen.
When I asked him if his earner diagnosis makes him n-
sent the department or regret becoming a firefighter, Preston
quickly answered no His fire officers didn't know any bet
ter, he said. He didn't know any better, either in his mind,
it's nobody's fault.
But now, as he wheezes and looks exhausted altei an
hour of light activity, he does know better l hat’s why he
made the 40 minute trek from his home to come and talk to
me, he said. I le wants other firefighters to know, loo
"I've been lucky to have this job," he said, as ( irace
crawled on his lap. " These people have been there loi me
Maybe I can do something for them."
months. Investments over the years in departmental infra
structure were few.
Remarkably, the typical Boston fin-house i. now 76 year
old With the department just trying to survive . ancer
wasn't on the priority list
It s like in sports, you don I win a game on just off n e
or defense you need both sides of the team to win that
g.ime, said Rich Paris, the union preside nt We needed
management and the union working together to accomplish
this. But that wasn't happening."
When Finn and Walsh came aboard in 2014, the infight
ing eased Finn, himself a former member of the union
executive team, met with Paris, and they agreed to work
together to devote as much time and as many resources
as necessary to combat the cancer scourge Both men were
worn out from watching friends die and families suffer,
I arts told me. Both felt that the time for action was long
overdue.
"Seeing firefighters in the hospital next to their families
and they know they aren't coming home, or hearing my
friends, these big tough firemen, cry and tell me they're
scared - it's hard," Pans said "When I tell them, 'you'll be
alright, I feel like I m lying to them. There have been times
when I ve said, 'I'll see you tomorrow,' and they die that
night. I wish I could show what that's like to the- rest of the
department There are no words to describe what that's
like."
In Boston, the fire department has taken a holistic ap
proach to the cancer battle, trying to limit its members'
exposure in a variety of ways "There is no silver bullet it
is a cumulative effect over a number of best practices," Finn
said To reduce exposure from dirty equipment, each Boston
firefighter has been outfitted with two pairs of new turnout
gear to ensure they always have a clean one at the start of
every shift With the help of private donations, industrial
cleaning machines and drying racks have been installed in
nearly all of the city's 34 firehouses so the deadly soot can
be washed out as it's brought back.
The- city is spending millions for each firehouse to be in-
dustrially cleaned, removing decades of soot. diesel exhaust
residue, benzene, and a host of other contaminants from
the floors, ceilings, walls, and carpets. New firehouses are
planned, and others are being renovated to better separate
bays from living quarters
To limit exposure on the fireground, the city has spent
$4 5 million to equip all of Boston's 1,500 firefighters with
new K BA air tanks that hold 45 minutes of air, a 50 percent
increase, so they'll be less likely to remove their masks to
conserve air. Protective hoods worn under the helmet and
mask to cover the face and neck, once unheard of in Boston,
are now mandatory.
In addition, 23 new fire trucks equipped with 30-gal-
ion foam bladders have been purchased, so that crews can
safely put out car and dumpster fires from a safe distance
with foam to limit their exposure to deadly smoke.
Fireground tactics have also been changed so that crews
ha /e all he nII elevated levelt, ofcertainr ane ors
efighters compared to the general popi ilat or
1V le m and out mi re, limiting eac h
firefighter s potential exposure Incident
< ommanders now monitor air conditions,
and it s common io hear over the radio
theparticulatet untandinatruction for
all firefighter to keep their masks on A
firefighter without a hood or mask i, no
longer treated like a hero, and there are
< onsequene es for riot following orders to
remain on air
Everybody around here is wearing
a mask and a hood now, and if‘s our job
to make sure of it," Fernandes said "If
someone sees me not wearing my hood, I'll
never hear the end of it Joe Finn doesn't
mess around."
Finn is quirk to note that all the best
equipment and standard operating pro
cedures in the world won't mean a thing
without buy in from the rank and file, and
the < ultural changes needed to ar hieve it
have required the most effort and persis
fence
( ne of Finn's first moves as commis
sioner was to create a Safety, F fealth and
Wellness Division within the fire depart
ment, which has formulated a strategy
directed at the cancer effort < ne of the first
tasks the division undertook was to hire a
production team to create a video featuring
Boston firefighter cancer victims, tearful
widows and families, and moving images
of the hundreds of firefighters Boston has
lost.
Fhe idea of the video, released in early
2015, was to "scare the bejesus out of
people, and awaken them to the idea that
this is no joke," Finn said "No matter how-
much you try to authoritatively push is-
sues down, the cancer issue comes down to
personal responsibility more than anything
else.
If you go into a burning building and
think it's cool to be the dirty sooty guv
coming out, you have to think, what am I
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Ostrander, Phil. Oklahoma Firefighter (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 34, No. 6, Ed. 1 Tuesday, August 1, 2017, periodical, August 1, 2017; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1941950/m1/13/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 8, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum.