Scotland-leading decontamination work in Inverness helping to cut firefighters’ cancer risks, say FBU ahead of Macmillan coffee morning fundraiser
Pioneering measures to save firefighters' lives will be highlighted to visitors at a charity event in Inverness this weekend.
Inverness Fire Station, in Harbour Road, will host a coffee morning in aid of cancer charity Macmillan this Saturday.
The event, which is being organised by the local Fire Brigades' Union with support from the fire service and Macmillan, will run from 11am.
And as well as raising vital funds for a good cause, it will also give people who pop along the chance to find out more about the station’s country-leading initiatives designed to cut the cancer risk posed to firefighters tackling blazes.
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Gordon Sinclair, the north area chairman of the Fire Brigades' Union, explained that fires give off lots of carbon and other dangerous chemicals from burning material - both of which can increase cancer risks among those exposed to them.
Firefighters going into blazes to put them out and save lives find themselves exposed to those cancer-causing chemicals and carbon.
And the figures are stark, with a study conducted for the FBU revealing that firefighters are not only at much higher risk of developing cancers and other medical conditions years earlier than would be expected in the wider population, they are also up to four times more likely to develop them than the general public.
To mitigate those risks Inverness was chosen to pioneer new post-fire clean-down and decontamination measures which see the likes of carbon removed from firefighters’ clothing and equipment upon returning to base. This helps reduce their exposure.
The station in the Highland capital had been due an upgrade, and so it found itself at the top of the list when it was decided to install equipment to try out these measures.
The refurbishment of the station amounted to a £1.8m investment, Mr Sinclair said, which included the measures.
“We’re trying to raise awareness and also about the decontamination of firefighters,” he said. “We’ve funded research, which is pretty stark about where we are as a fire service and where we need to be.
He added: “There’s a link between the evidence from the stats that because of compounds [firefighters are] exposed to they are likelier to get cancer before the rest of the population and four times more likely to get it than the general population.”
Mr Sinclair continued by saying that Inverness is “now up to the specs needed for decontamination”, but that there are many more stations where such facilities are yet to be factored in.
“I’m well aware it’s not going to happen overnight but all the time [we wait] people are exposed to carbon from fires.”
