Municipal firefighters who battled the massive Fort McMurray wildfire in the western province of Alberta in May are being screened for health problems, reports Canadian Press (CP). Some of the 180 crew members have developed persistent coughs, says Nick Waddington, local president of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Burning homes emit toxic fumes
Usually firefighters wear air masks which filter out hazardous smoke from burning vinyl siding, treated lumber and furniture in homes. The air supply lasts for one hour and is good for fighting a blaze in one house. But the Fort McMurray fire went on for days destroying 2,400 homes and forcing more than 80,000 people to evacuate.
Possible serious illnesses, says union leader
Waddington believes the firefighters will need long-term support and possibly treatment for serious illnesses over the next one to two decades.
“Realistically, a lot of our guys, their lives are going to be shortened because of this incident,” Waddington told CP.
Masks make it harder to breathe
Those fighting forest fires sometimes wear masks that filter out particles, but those are not routinely stocked at local fire stations. Supplies did arrive a few days after the blaze broke out, but Waddington says the masks make it harder to breath and can become clogged.
‘A better-than-average chance of dying’
Firefighters who worked on a big blaze in 2011 in Slave Lake some 200 km away developed chest infections as well as nose and throat problems. That town’s fire chief, Jamie Coutts says he was diagnosed with asthma and lung sarcoidosis, but it can’t be directly linked to the fire.
“I’m a firefighter. I’ve got a better-than-average chance of dying of cancer. It is what it is,” he told CP.
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