It’s Time to Gear Up for Wildland Fire Season 2
While firefighters perform a dangerous job, to begin with, the danger doesn’t necessarily recede once they’ve exited the fireground. Research has shown that fires, and particularly house fires, contain known harmful contaminants that play a crucial role in developing cancer. During any given fire, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is exposed to a plethora of these carcinogens, which leaves the firefighter vulnerable to skin absorption and/or inhalation following the incident. Moreover, these carcinogens can and will stay active until the turnout gear is properly laundered.
This has led to a wave of recent studies which reveal that exposure to these harmful contaminants left on dirty turnout gear is linked to the increasing number of cancer diagnoses seen in the firefighting community - particularly the elevated rate of mesothelioma in which the contaminants are commonly found in house & structure fires. While proper laundering certainly eliminates exposure to said carcinogens, decontamination truly starts immediately after exiting the fireground. However, there are unfortunately very few options that currently exist for safely removing contaminated gear after a call - This is exactly the void which the Decon™ Bag serves to fill.
