YEAH. WELCOME BACK, FIREFIGHTERS ARE AT AN INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING OCCUPATIONALLY RELATED CANCER NATIONWIDE FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY AS FIREFIGHTER CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. ED PALM BEACH COUNTY FIRE RESCUE HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF AWARENESS AND RESEARCH STUDIES WITH US TODAY AS DISTRICT CHIEF BOB CROW. BRETT, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. AND CAPTAIN MIKE MCCANN, THANK YOU SO MUCH BOTH OF YOU. FIRST OFF, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE. IT’S A THANKLESS JOB AND WE’RE SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL YOU DO FOR US. EACH AND EVERY DAY. TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THIS GEAR HERE IN A MINUTE, BUT WHY YOU GUYS ARE AT SUCH A HIGH RISK FOR FOR CANCERS. GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU FOR HAVING US ON. FIRST, MODERN FIRES HAVE A LOT OF PLASTICS IN THEM. IF YOU LOOK IN YOUR HOME RIGHT NOW, EVERYTHING IS MADE OF PLASTIC. YOUR TABLES, YOUR FURNITURE IS IN THE PAST, IT WAS MADE OF NATURAL MATERIALS, WOOD, WOOL, COTTON. AND THESE PLASTICS, WHEN THEY CATCH ON FIRE, THEY RELEASE A GOOD DEAL OF CARCINOGENS AND ALSO CARCINOGENIC SOOT. SO FIREFIGHTERS ARE EXPOSED TO HUNDREDS OF TIMES THAT, SOMETIMES THOUSANDS OF TIMES MORE CARCINOGENS THAN WE HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST. SO THAT’S PROBLEMATIC. AND SO THERE WAS A DAY WHEN YOU SEE LIKE A SOOT COVERED, A FIREFIGHTER, OR AS IT’S KIND F A BADGE OF HONOR, THE MORE SOOT, THE MORE EXPERIENCE, BECAUSE WE TRAINED IT CHANGED THAT NARRATIVE OF IT. ABSOLUTELY. THERE’S THERE’S A CULTURAL YOU’RE SPEAKING OF THE FIREFIGHTER CULTURE. WHEN YOU SEE AN OLD SALTY VETERAN WITH THAT MELTED HELMET AND SOOT ALL OVER HIS GEAR, YOU THINK, WOW, HE’S BEEN IN A LOT OF FIRES. HE’S SOMEBODY TO BE RESPECTED. BUT THAT WE’RE TRYING TO CHANGE THAT CULTURE. WE WE UNDERSTAND THAT THAT’S NOT SAFE FOR FIREFIGHTERS TO HAVE THEIR GEAR. SO DIRTY LIKE THAT. SO WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING? HOW ARE YOU GUYS TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS? ABSOLUTELY. WHAT I BROUGHT HERE TODAY, THE HONOR BELT, WHICH SIGNIFIES THOSE THAT HAVE PASSED AWAY FROM CANCER. AND THAT’S REALLY WHAT WE’RE DOING TODAY AND WHY WE’RE TRYING TO BE SAFER. BUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE’RE DOING IS LIKE NEWER TECHNOLOGY WITH HOODS THAT ACTUALLY BLOCK THE PARTICULATES FROM COMING INTO US. ALSO, THIS HALF MAST. SO WHEN WE’RE INSIDE THE BUILDING, WE HAVE OUR BREATHING APPARATUS ON OUR BACK AND WE HAVE OUR AIR. BUT WHEN WE’RE OPERATING AROUND A HOUSE, THERE’S ACTUALLY CARCINOGENS IN THE AIR. AND SO THIS HALF MASK IS ACTUALLY PROTECTING US FROM NOT ONLY THE SOOT, BUT ALSO THE GASES COMING IN. SO IT’S IT’S A LOT OF THINGS THAT DIFFERENT MOVEMENTS THAT WE’VE DONE TO TRY TO PROTECT THE FIREFIGHTERS. AND THIS MAY BE A SILLY QUESTION, BUT IS THERE IS THERE A METHOD TO ACTUALLY KIND OF CLEANING A LOT OF THESE THINGS SO THEN YOU’RE NOT CONTINUING TO HAVE IT ON YOUR BODY? ABSOLUTELY. SOMETHING WE IMPLEMENTED WAS SPRAYING EACH OTHER WITH WATER ON SCENE. WHEN YOU COME OUT OF THE HOUSE, IT’S CALLED AN ON SCENE DECON. SO WE’RE DOING THAT TO SUPPRESS AND ALSO TO START THE CLEANING PROCESS RIGHT AWAY. I CAN ACTUALLY I CAN SMELL THE SMOKE. I’VE BEEN TO A HAND, NOT AS MANY AS YOU HAVE BEEN. YOU’VE COVERED A HANDFUL OF HOUSE FIRES AND YOU YOU CAN SMELL THAT SMELL STICKS WITH YOU AND YOUR CLOTHES. AND I MEAN, I CAN START EVEN EVEN ON THIS TODAY. SO WHAT HAS THE TECHNOLOGY DONE NATIONWIDE AND WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING TO HELP THIS RESEARCH? I MEAN, IS IT SOMETHING YOU’RE FORTUNATELY LEARNING ABOUT? WE’RE VERY PROUD OF OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, SYLVESTER CANCER CENTER. WE’VE BEEN WORKING WITH THEM SINCE 2017, AND WE’RE LOOKING INTO WHY FIREFIGHTERS ARE MORE AT RISK FOR CANCER. AND NOT ONLY THAT, WE’RE TRYING TO DEVELOP BEST PRACTICES SO THAT WE COULD PREVENT FUTURE FIREFIGHTERS FROM GETTING CANCER AND PALM BEACH COUNTY FIRE RESCUE IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS FIREFIGHTER CANCER PREVENTION, AND WE’RE VERY PROUD OF THAT. THEY PROVIDED US WITH A GLOBAL SCALE SO THAT WE CAN SHARE OUR BEST PRACTICES, FOR EXAMPLE, TO HAVE MASK AND THE HOOD, THE IMPERMEABLE TO GASES, AND ALSO CLEANING OUR GEAR. AND WE GET TO SHARE THAT ON A GLOBAL SCALE SO THAT WE CAN SAVE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS NATION WITH. THAT’S RIGHT. WELL, HOPEFULLY IT GETS BETTER. BETTER. WE DON’T WANT TO ADD MORE AND MORE NAMES TO THAT. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT FOLKS TO KNOW OUT THERE? NO. THANK YOU FOR HAVING US. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. AND STAY SAFE. WE’RE IN THIS. THANK YOU. THAT’S BUSY. YOU ARE THE BETTER RIGHT? YES. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND IF YOU’D LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL THEY’RE DOING, YOU CAN LOG ONTO OUR WEBSITE. WE’VE MADE IT EASY FOR YOU, WPBF DOT COM. WE APPRECIATE IT.