Studies have shown that breathing vehicle exhaust fumes inside the firehouse can cause or contribute to serious illnesses such as emphysema, cancer, heart attacks, stroke and even death for fire fighters who work and eat and sleep in the facility, according to the Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation.

Fire Chief Glenn Joseph agreed that diesel exhaust puts responders at higher risk for cancer, adding that all their units use diesel fuel.

“Our plan is very aggressive to minimize exposure and risk for first responders,” Joseph said. “Years ago we banned smoking among firefighters. We know that diesel exhaust is another risk that needs to be dealt with.”

Boynton’s fire stations have fans near station roofs and responders leave garage doors open to clear out fumes, Joseph said.

The new systems will have a hose connected to the exhaust pipes of the fire trucks that will pump fumes outside the building from the roof. Once the firetruck leaves the station the system will continue to remove exhaust from the garage for about five minutes, Joseph said.

Chief Spairana says the devices were paid for by the Fireman's Relief Association.

The iPads are hooked up to a program called "I Am Responding,"  a piece of software used by the department.

"With this program, we can also do pre-plans. There's a dot on the building, it shows up as a bubble and if you open that up, it will tell you how you can attack the fire," said Chief Spairana.

Not only does the iPad give crews directions, but it also tells them how much water flow is in the hydrants.

"With the hydrant placement, it tells us what kind of hydrant flow we are going to get. So we know if we are getting 200 gallons per minute or 1,000 gallons per minute and which hydrant we are going to hit or not hit," said Chief Spairana.