Read the full article by Jo Clifton (Austin Monitor)
“On a unanimous vote Thursday, City Council adopted a resolution urging the city’s Fire Department to eliminate PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) from the city’s firefighting equipment, noting that the substance is dangerous not only to firefighters but also to the environment. Council Member Mackenzie Kelly was the lead sponsor of the resolution.
As the resolution notes, PFAS are a group of chemicals used in a variety of industrial and consumer products, including firefighting equipment. That equipment includes the foam sprayed on fires to suppress flames, as well as the gear firefighters wear to fight fires. They are frequently called ‘forever chemicals’ because of their persistence in the environment.
Kelly is a volunteer firefighter with the Jollyville Fire Department, where she said she has ‘seen far too many firefighters who have passed as a result of presumptive cancer.’ She added, ‘I think it is important as a city that we are good stewards of our employees,’ which she said includes doing everything they can to reduce the impacts of firefighting on individuals who are working to save lives.”…