Sept-Îles firefighters fight against cancers that affect their profession

Firefighters are increasingly exposed to carcinogenic contaminants due to the increasing use of synthetic, petroleum-based construction materials. This situation forces the fire safety service of the city of Sept-Îles to adapt its intervention methods.

The Sept-Îles firefighters have been very busy in recent days. Two separate fires destroyed three houses and five garages in the Ferland Park area of ​​Sept-Îles.

After each of these interventions, firefighters must begin a long decontamination procedure, due to the presence of harmful contaminants at the fire scene and on their equipment.

Before even leaving the fire site, firefighters are sprayed with soapy water. Arriving at the station, part of the barracks is marked off, the vehicles are cleaned, as are most pieces of equipment, including portable radios, axes, water hoses and thermal cameras. The circuit ends on another floor for the final shower.

The complete decontamination process can last four to five hours, estimates the head of operations at the fire safety service of the City of Sept-Îles, Guillaume Boissonneault.

However, he considers these decontamination steps essential. Smoke, ash and fine particles emanating from residential fires are increasingly harmful due to the frequent use of synthetic building materials.

Increasingly, we are using products [à base de pétrole] in houses. It’s less and less wood and more and more synthetic things. When they burn, these materials release harmful contaminants which become impregnated in the combat clothing and pores of the skin of firefighters.

These products are not only more dangerous to health, but they promote the spread of flames and burn more quickly than wood, which limits the time available to fire safety teams.

Raise firefighters’ awareness of the risks of the profession, including cancer

For his part, the director of the Fire Safety Service of the City of Sept-Îles, Joël Sauvé, believes that the profession has changed a lot since the start of his career.

We now wear our breathing apparatus from the start to the end of a fire. There is no one who will enter the intervention perimeter without having a device on themhe indicated on the microphone of the show Hello Coast on ICI Première.

At the start of my career, more than forty years ago, when we arrived at a vehicle fire, if you were wearing a breathing apparatus, you were considered weak.he adds.

But today, it is important to make firefighters aware of the importance of decontamination, which must be part of everyday teams, but also the risk of cancer which affects several firefighters.

According to Health Canada, firefighters are 9% more likely to develop cancer and 14% more likely to die from it than the general population. This awareness month is therefore an opportunity for firefighters to reflect on the risks of their profession.

We know that cancers lie in wait for us. The elements that firefighters face are present everywhere in our daily lives and [puisqu’on] fighting fires, firefighters are more exposed.

Joël Sauvé’s priority is therefore to mitigate risks. The director of the fire service wishes to soon acquire new combat clothing that contains fewer or no substances that increase the risk of cancer, such as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) and strengthen decontamination methods.

As for him, the head of operations, Guillaume Boissonneault, thinks that most fire teams are aware of these long-term health risks. However, he judges that the profession is on the right track in terms of awareness and prevention.

With information from Mathieu Pineau and Steeve Paradis