As I walked up the large flight of stairs next to the apparatus to the second floor, the aroma of a good “job” lingered in the air. I went to hit the shower and caught in the mirror a glimpse of the soot stains around my face, where there must have been a gap between my mask and protective hood. I turned the water on, knowing it would be a few minutes before the water got hot, and decided to blow my nose. The toilet paper had black-stained mucus in it; after a few more blows, the color of the mucus turned clear. I touched the stains on my face; they felt oily and smeared on my fingers. When the water was warm enough to shower, I jumped in and began to wash off. The grit running out of my hair from the plaster and lath felt like sandpaper running down my skin. I glanced down at the white marble shower floor and saw the soot washing away. As I washed, my mind started to wander about years past in three-quarter boots, no hoods or bunker gear, and the abuse my body had taken. Then I thought about what I would change if I could do it all over again.
With all of the new studies and findings about the outrageous numbers of firefighters coming down with numerous types of cancers, I’d like to offer some thoughts on making things better during your career. Maybe some of you will say, “I’ve done that,” and many others might just shrug it off and think, “Hey, that’s my job, and those are the hardships and facts.” Hopefully, after reading this, you might change your mind or practices.
Hoods
Right now, there’s a big push to wash your hoods weekly because of the materials that collect in them. Yes, even I was astonished when hoods first came out and I turned around and saw the younger firefighter looking like an old Wild West cowboy, with his hood pulled up over his mouth and nose during a nasty food on the stove fire. At the time, I copied him and afterward said to myself, “Why didn’t I put my mask on and use the fresh air I’m carrying?” Personally, I don’t think it was because of bravado. Rather, I was thinking that if the kitchen was rocking and we needed to wait on a line, I wanted to have every ounce of air in my tank to make a quick primary search and be able to control and confine the fire. So, if you feel the need to pull your hood up over your mouth and nose or your eyes start to feel that stinging, burning sensation, don your face piece.
Recently, while responding to an oven fire and after making it to the third floor, I began to feel that sensation: It became difficult to breathe on a hot and very humid day. The chief heard my radio report through my face piece that it smelled like burning plastic and asked me if everything was alright when I went on air. I responded that we were investigating and the smoke condition was moderate to heavy with no heat; it turned out to be about five plastic beverage containers and one pot handle burning in the oven, but the oily soot had already stained the kitchen walls.
So the moral of this story is, Wash your hood after each time it’s exposed to a significant amount of smoke, chemicals, and by-products of any type of fire. In addition, have a spare so while the other is drying, you’re ready to go. And, of course, you’re wearing and carrying that self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) on your back for a reason; use it so each breath is filling your lungs with clean air and not chemicals that contain carcinogens, carbon monoxide, or cyanide, which can poison you.
Gear
When many of us first got on the job, we worked with some real tough individuals, and their gear looked like it walked out of the fires of hell. Well, times have changed; we now know our gear’s fibers can carry by-products and fragments of dangerous materials once we leave the fire scene, so salty is out and clean is in: Rinse off your gear after a job to remove the dust particles that could contain asbestos, and wash off the burnt ashes, grit, soot, or plastic resins attached to the gear and your gloves.
For years, we’ve often washed off the hose in the clean street before we repacked it, but we’ve thrown the SCBA laden with debris back into the bracket on the rig once we changed the air bottle. Rinse that garbage off too; this way, it’s less we have to touch when we get back to quarters to clean the face piece/mask or sit against when we are responding to another call.
While we’re on the subject of the mask, yes, many of us have our own personal face pieces, but sometimes we end up sharing them or using the ones assigned to the apparatus. After any use, make a proper disinfecting solution and wash it; the hair nets can also absorb materials, and if anyone had any type of germs, we hopefully eliminated sharing them.
On another note, our newer and longer ear flaps and helmet’s interior cloth assemblies are being redesigned to permit washing. As for our boots, recently, we responded to a water leak and found raw sewage overflowing; many of us had to walk through it to shut off utilities. Once we got back to quarters, we remained outside until we made a cleaning solution of bleach and water and washed our boots. Plus, the chauffeur was smart enough to wash the cab’s floor and rinse it.
Clean personal protection equipment protects you better and increases its longevity and yours, something to be thankful for!
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 31-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladder chapter and co-authored the Ventilation chapter for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com.
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