In September, I had the honor of delivering a presentation titled “Vehicles and Exposures” at the Fire Service Occupational Cancer Symposium held in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Alliance is an output of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Almost 600 fire service personnel attended. A lot of work and attention has, and continues to be, devoted to cleaning personal protective equipment (PPE) as a way to minimize exposure to carcinogens. In the past three years, there has also been attention being devoted to carcinogens in the fire station. However, there has been very little attention given to the conduit that brings carcinogens to the fire station—fire apparatus. This issue is just now beginning to appear on the fire service’s and apparatus and component manufacturers’ radar. The presentation was formatted in a manner to provide thought-provoking ideas and solicit feedback on what needs to be done to minimize exposures as they relate to vehicles.

Research

Research into the carcinogens found in vehicles is extremely limited. I was only able to find one snippet of research related to the issue, which was part of a study conducted at the Illinois Fire Service Institute in collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the UL Firefighter Safety Institute. There is indication that toxins are being emitted into the apparatus cab by simply placing dirty PPE in the cab. The study constructed two Tyvek®-lined enclosures to simulate a six-person cab. Six sets of turnout gear were hung in each enclosure. One enclosure contained contaminated gear and the other contained decontaminated gear. The sets remained in the enclosures for 15 minutes to simulate a return trip from a fire scene. The off-gassing was measured in each enclosure. From the measurements, it was determined that “… firefighters could inhale a number of chemicals in the period following a fire response.”

Here are some of the thoughts that were shared with the audience.

SCBA in the Cab

This was described as the “elephant in the room.” Should self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) be prohibited inside the cab? It is difficult to thoroughly decontaminate SCBA on the scene. Several departments have removed SCBA from the cab as a measure to facilitate seat/shoulder belt usage and provide a more comfortable seat. Contaminated SCBA is now another reason to consider removing SCBA from the cab. Proponents of this measure also say it gives firefighters a chance to assess the fire scene before initiating action. Opponents to the idea say it adds to the time it takes to facilitate rescue as well as requires additional compartment space.

Cab Interiors

There might be areas of cab design that can make decontamination easier. For example, seats could be covered with a material that is more easily cleaned. Or, perhaps there is value in providing disposable seat covers to use during fire response. Decontaminating cab flooring should also be a consideration. Many floors are rubber or vinyl with a rough texture to minimize slippage. However, some cabs have aluminum d