CVTC donates decontamination buckets in hopes of preventing cancer in firefighters

Assignment Manager

CHIPPEWA FALLS (WQOW) - CVTC officials donated decontamination buckets to help prevent cancer in firefighters and paramedics on Tuesday.

The college's president Sunem Beaton-Garcia and fire training manager Mark Schwartz presented two buckets to Chippewa Falls Fire and Emergency Services.

Each bucket contained dish soap, a scrub brush, wipes, shampoo, body wash, a garden hose, and an adapter for a fire hose.

These items are meant to be used on scene.

Schwartz said firefighters are often exposed to carcinogens, so it's important to wash them off right away to prevent personnel from getting cancer years down the line.

"The stuff that's in houses nowadays is not the same as it was 30 or 40 years ago," Shwartz said. "There are a lot more plastics, rubbers, glues, and synthetic fibers. So when that stuff burns, it causes cancer-causing materials, and that's what firefighters are coming into direct contact with as they're in structure fires. When they leave, they're bringing all that stuff with them."

Chippewa Fire Chief Lee Douglas said they do wear state of the art protective gear, but there are times when their skin is still absorbing chemicals that are byproducts of combustion, so they are grateful for the donation.

"For our men and women who work in the fire service, I think it's important to have every single possibility to decontaminate as quickly as possible not only here in our stations, which we do have facilities to decontaminate and shower our personnel. But now, this gives us an extra advantage out in the field, right on the scene, right alongside a fire truck," Douglas said.

CVTC raised $5,000 to make and distribute 66 buckets to every fire station in the 11 counties they serve.

They plan to deliver buckets to Menomonie later this week.

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Assignment Manager