The union that represents Winnipeg firefighters has applauded the federal government’s new multimillion-dollar plan that aims to better prevent, detect and treat cancer among first responders.
The federal Liberal government announced the $12.29-million, five-year funding as part of the new national framework on cancers linked to firefighting last month in Ottawa, along with International Association of Firefighters union officials. It will include $220,000 each subsequent year.
Firefighters are susceptible to cancers linked to toxic materials they encounter in burning buildings and, more recently, American government studies have found protective firefighter gear itself often contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — cancer-linked chemicals that make textiles more water-and-oil resistant.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Liberal MPs Terry Duguid (centre) and Kevin Lamoureux (left), alongside Tom Bilous, president of UFFW, speak outside of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Academy Friday morning.
The local union has long advocated for the federal government to develop such a framework.
“This is paramount,” United Firefighters of Winnipeg president Tom Bilous said at the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service training academy Friday, alongside local Liberal MPs Terry Duguid and Kevin Lamoureux.
“Firefighters face many dangers throughout our careers, but the greatest threat that we have, the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths, is occupational disease.”
The federal money will be spent on researching cancers linked to firefighting, including on how to prevent firefighters from getting sick and collecting data; developing training for health-care workers; diagnostic testing guidelines; sharing knowledge on the issue across jurisdictions; and developing national standards for health and safety and workers’ compensation.
It stems from a bill on the new framework enacted in June last year.
The federal government is also working on a national firefighter health-and-safety advisory group and a national cancer firefighter registry, meant to monitor health and look at trends.
Scott Wilkinson, the deputy WFPS chief of fire rescue operations and training, also showed off the service’s new gear-cleaning facility Friday, which is meant to reduce firefighters’ exposure to toxic chemicals after they leave a fire scene.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
United Firefighters of Winnipeg president Tom Bilous
Firefighters now remove and bag their gear at scenes and it’s then cleaned and inspected by technicians wearing protective equipment back at the McPhillips Street training academy.
That program, which began about five years ago and is the only of its kind in the country, is an example of the type of best practice that will be shared under the new framework, officials said.
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera
Reporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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