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TIFFIN, Ohio — Keeping firefighters safe is a tough and dangerous job, and cancer is always a threat when dealing with smoke and burning chemicals.
"Since 2002, reports have shown that two-thirds of all firefighter deaths are due to cancer-related illness," said Tiffin Fire and Rescue Chief Rob Chappell.
To combat that, the city of Tiffin has become one of the first fire departments in the region to offer a new piece of equipment to keep firefighters safe.
There's a new piece of equipment inside of Tiffin's Fire Station 2. It's not a new truck, or ambulance, or even new turnout gear.
It's a new Solo Rescue personal protective equipment (PPE) washer.
Designed in Sweden using the similar mechanics of an industrial dish washing machine, the PPE washer uses high water temps, pressurized nozzles, and specialized detergents to rid firefighters' SCBAs, helmets, gloves, and masks of not only the day-to-day dirt and grime, but also the cancer-causing particles picked up while fighting fires.
"Previously we had to use some scrub brushes and scrub everything by hand, which was just re-exposing everybody to those dangerous elements, using just Simple Green or some other detergent," Chappell said.
Tiffin is only the second community in Ohio to install one of these PPE washers. The city purchased the $25,000 machine using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
And after seeing it in action, Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz is surprised more of these washers aren't in every fire department in the state.
"There was absolutely no second thought to it," he said. "The fact that we can drastically lower the chances of our firefighters coming down with cancer either in their careers or later in life, this is an opportunity you just don't say no to."
The city of Tiffin only has two fire stations in town, so the department plans to share this washer between the two locations.
Mayor Montz says the city is also looking into using more of that federal funding to purchase a new ambulance for the department at some point.
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