The Poway Fire Department recently received a generous grant award to purchase two turnout extractors, so that each of the city’s three fire stations will now have one. These specialized washers significantly help our firefighters reduce their exposure to toxins and carcinogens that contaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) in the line of duty.
“Having clean PPE is a critical part of reducing the risk of cancer for our firefighters,” said Daniel Acosta, a Poway fire engineer/paramedic.
Battalion Chief Brian Mitchell explained the benefit of having extractor at each fire station:
“This minimizes the handling and transportation of PPE, reduces the time to clean and return PPE to service, and improves resource availability for the next emergency response.”
Poway Fire Chief Jeff Chumbley thanked San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson and Joan Jones from the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation for their leadership in making this grant opportunity available.
“The safety of our firefighters and the community are at the forefront of our efforts,” he said, “and we are grateful this project was able to help fund this much needed equipment.”
