South King Fire funds decontamination

South King Fire had been cleaning contaminated firefighting gear with what officials described as basically a washing machine, and on April 11 it said it now has $850,000 to buy dedicated decontamination equipment instead. The money is part of more than $12 million in federal funding that Representative Adam Smith said he brought back for local projects in Washington’s 9th District. (federalwaymirror.com) That sounds like a small equipment story until you look at what sits on that gear after a fire. South King Fire said the problem is cancer-causing chemicals that stay on turnout gear, the heavy jacket-and-pants set firefighters wear into smoke and heat. (federalwaymirror.com) Washington fire unions and safety groups have spent years pushing a simple idea: dirty gear is not a badge of honor if it keeps transferring toxins back onto skin, trucks, and stations. The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters tells departments to use decontamination steps and “clean cab” practices so contaminants stay out of living and riding spaces. (wscff.org) Researchers studying firefighters’ gear have measured how much that cleaning can do. Northwell Health’s firefighter cancer study found that wet field decontamination with soap, water, and scrubbing cut polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination on turnout jackets by an average of 85 percent, while cleansing wipes cut contamination on neck skin by 54 percent. (feinstein.northwell.edu) South King Fire covers Federal Way and nearby South King County communities from Station 62 headquarters at 31617 1st Avenue South, so this is the department handling fires for a large suburban service area, not a tiny volunteer outpost. Its 2026 adopted budget says it staffs seven fire stations with engine companies. (southkingfire.org, southkingfire.org) That scale helps explain why one improvised cleaning setup became a bigger issue. A department running seven staffed stations generates a steady flow of smoke-exposed coats, pants, hoods, helmets, and gloves, and each delayed wash means more chances for residue to spread from a fire scene into a locker room or ambulance bay. (southkingfire.org, wscff.org) Washington has been building this culture change for more than a decade. A Washington State Department of Labor and Industries grant report on firefighter cancer prevention said departments can use simple, cost-effective practices right away to reduce exposure to carcinogens, and those recommendations were already being taught around South King County fire training groups years ago. (lni.wa.gov) So the $850,000 is not just for shinier machines. It is money to move one department from ad hoc washing toward a system built around repeated exposure reduction, the unglamorous side of firefighting that starts after the flames are out and the smoke has already soaked into everything. (federalwaymirror.com, wscff.org)