Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- New Sandy fire station aims to reduce cancer risk for firefighters.
- Features include airlocks, separate exhaust systems, and decontamination areas.
- Fire Chief McConaghie emphasizes changing attitudes toward cancer prevention in firefighting.
SANDY — The city's new fire station will include several features aimed at reducing the cancer risk to firefighters, the fire chief said Thursday.
Roughly in its eighth month under construction, the station located at 9295 S. 255 West is expected to be completed sometime in late September or early October, according to Sandy Fire Chief Ryan McConaghie.
"It's definitely taking shape," McConaghie said. "We're very excited about all of it."
McConaghie said among the cancer-preventing features in Fire Station 31 are: an airlock between the bay and living area that pressurizes and keeps carcinogens and contaminants out of the firefighter living space; separate exhaust systems for the bay and for gear storage; and a decontamination shower and decontamination space that includes a washer and dryer separate from the living space washer and dryer.
"Just the way they're setting up the HVAC system — it's not going to be pushing the contaminants from the bay into here, and the airlock would be pressurized to keep it out, so you'd have the 'green zone' living space, 'red zone' in the bay," McConaghie explained as he took a KSL-TV crew through the under-construction site.
The fire chief acknowledged cancer prevention had not always been a top priority in the field.
For decades, he said, firefighters would return to their living areas while tracking in contaminants from fires and other incidents.
"It used to be the cool thing to run into a fire, get the soot on your hat and on your clothes, and that was kind of a 'badge of honor,'" he said. "Even back when I started, it was 'keep your gear in the back of your car,' 'keep your gear in your bedroom.'"
McConaghie said that attitude has changed, and circumstances are much different for today's firefighters.
"You come back, and you wash that gear and switch into the other set of gear, so you're not contaminating and having that absorbed into your neck and your face, and the different body parts that are susceptible to cancer," McConaghie said.
McConaghie said firefighters were also watching the progress of a measure on Utah's Capitol that would provide comprehensive cancer screenings.
He said limiting exposures at fire stations was also an important component of cancer prevention for firefighters.
"Everything that we can do with the new station to limit that exposure to carcinogens and anything that would cause cancer we're trying to do with this particular building today," McConaghie said.
