Aug. 1—Upgrades at the newly opened Fire Station 8 are more than just cosmetic. Some can potentially save a firefighter's life.

Cancer is the leading cause of death for firefighters, as they are exposed to toxins while battling blazes. Now the St. Joseph Fire Department is taking steps to ensure safety and lower employees' risk of getting cancer.

One of the amenities in the new station is a sauna to help firefighters sweat off deadly toxins after returning from a job. Mykie May, captain at Station 6, said it is a life-saving measure.

"The sauna breaks those cancerous toxins down through sweat and enables us to get those toxins out at the cellular level," May said.

When returning from battling smoke and flames, firefighters must rinse off in the shower and then change into loose workout clothes. They then enter the sauna where the temperature is anywhere from 120 to 145 degrees. The individual must generate a sweat and work out for 10 to 15 minutes. There is a bicycle in the sauna used for this purpose. After the workout, they must shower to eliminate the loose toxins. These protocols stay the same in every condition year-round.

May said toxins easily enter the body from firefighters constantly being exposed to heat. The toxins that cause cancer spawn from gasses and heat after items such as foam cushions, couches and other manmade materials, burn.

"When we go into a fire, you not only have the clothes that you have on, but now you have bunker gear that has a liner and it has a shell," May said. "Then you have a pack and you have a Nomex hood and you have a helmet. When you work in all of that heat, the body becomes so much more absorbent for those toxins because of the temperatures."

Hot showers are the most beneficial way to shower to eliminate the most amount of toxins.

"It's the heat in the sauna and the heat of the water that allow ourselves to break this stuff down to the cellular level to get these toxins out," May said.

May said that working through these new protocols took some getting used to but quickly became second nature.

"It honestly makes you feel better because it relaxes your muscles a little bit more and it allows you to breathe a little bit better after being out on the job," May said.

Other ways to eliminate toxins include using state-of-the-art washing machine extractors in the stations to get rid of the toxins that rest on the gear and clothing of each firefighter.

"It's got a lot more detail (than regular washing machines) and it's got the special soaps and detergents and things that are that are built into it," May said. "Each piece of equipment has its own program and the machine is set up to wash properly that particular portion."

Another addition to the new station is the workout room that allows the firefighters to stay in shape and train their bodies to prepare for the job.

"The better shape that you're in going into the fire, the less chance you have of getting injured," May said.

May hopes that people see the benefits that the fire department now has at their disposal.

"Obviously, we'll never be able to get rid of cancer risks," May said. "There's a certain danger with the job. But if you can use these tools, you drastically reduce your chance of developing cancer, which in the long run saves lives."

Riley Funk can be reached at riley.funk@newspressnow.com.

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