San Francisco, CA
San Francisco firefighters to retire uniforms linked to cancer
San Francisco firefighters are finally getting the protective gear they were promised after years’ long research revealed certain chemicals used in traditional firefighter uniforms can cause cancer.
“What none of us could have known is that some of the very gear designed to protect us was quietly harming us,” said San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen, who spoke alongside dozens of first responders on Thursday as he announced the city’s $3.6 million plan to provide protective equipment to all frontline firefighters by the end of the year. “This is a joyous occasion for our city.”
San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen was flanked by the mayor, state and local lawmakers, and dozens of first responders on Thursday when detailing the city’s plans to provide new, non-PFAS uniforms to frontline firefighters across San Francisco.
The San Francisco fire department, the tenth largest in the nation, has already distributed the redesigned gear to about 80 of its firefighters and hopes to have all 1,100 of its new uniforms in use within the next three weeks – that’s enough protective equipment to provide one uniform to each of the city’s frontline firefighters. While city leaders hope to eventually purchase a second set of gear, San Francisco firefighters will, for now, need to wash their new gear before returning to work or continue to rely on their old uniform as a backup.
“Public safety relies on the people who stand between danger and our residents,” Mayor Lurie told the crowd during Thursday’s announcement. “Firefighter health must always be at the center of our decisions.”
San Francisco’s efforts stem from a first-in-the-nation ban that local lawmakers passed last year, which requires the city to outfit firefighters with new uniforms by July 2026. Over the years, studies have shown the jackets and pants firefighters across America have long relied on to keep safe during emergencies are made with materials proven to cause cancer.
These so-called “PFAS” materials, often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ because of their reluctance to breakdown, have long been used to bolster the reliability of firefighter clothing by helping to repel flammable liquids and reduce temperatures, even in extreme heat. Researchers, however, have found the compounds to be harmful when absorbed through skin. While the precise level of PFAS exposure for firefighters and the associated health risks are still being studied, the compounds have been linked to cancer and other negative health effects impacting cholesterol levels and the immune system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
PFAS aside, the inherit health risks of firefighting, including prolonged exposure to smoke and ash, led the World Health Organization to deem the occupation a “carcinogen.” Yet, some fear the very safety uniforms firefighters have come to rely on for protection could also be making them sick.
Female firefighters in San Francisco are six times more likely to develop cancer compared to the national average, according to the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation.
In San Francisco, female firefighters have a six times higher rate of breast cancer than the national average, according to the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation. More than 400 firefighters in San Francisco have been lost to cancer over the past 20 years, according to the city’s fire department.
“The cost of inaction is measured in funerals,” said Stephen Gilman, who represents the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). “The reward of action is measured in lives saved.”
The cost of inaction is measured in funerals.
Stephen Gilman, International Assoc. of Fire Fighters (IAFF)
While materials laced with PFAS have been shown to pose safety risks, so has fire gear that has been manufactured without it. Last year, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit reported on research from North Carolina State University that found non-PFAS fire equipment to be less breathable and more flammable than traditional uniforms made with PFAS.
“We don’t want to just trade one hazard for another,” Dr. Bryan Ormand told the Investigative Unit back in May 2024. “We’re introducing a potential hazard for flammability on the fire scene where firefighters didn’t have that before.”
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a city-wide ban of what are known as ‘PFAS’ or ‘forever chemicals,’ but replacement options still aren’t widely available and those that are seem be raising new safety concerns. Senior Investigator Bigad Shaban reports.
Milliken & Company, the textile firm that made the material for San Francisco’s latest uniforms, said the new type of gear “meets or exceeds” all industry standards for “breathability and thermal protection.”
“We refused to trade one hazard for another,” Marcio Manique, senior vice president and managing director of Milliken’s apparel business, noted in a written statement.
“It meets the strictest performance standards without adding weight or compromising breathability – giving firefighters exactly what they asked for.”
We refused to trade one hazard for another
Marcio Manique, senior vice president and managing director of Milliken’s apparel business
In San Francisco, the new gear underwent a 90-day test trial with 50 of the city’s own firefighters.
“What we did was we actually went through a really comprehensive testing process,” Chief Crispen told the Investigative Unit. “It went to the lab and received testing and everything came back great, so we feel strongly about this product.”
Contact The Investigative Unit
submit tips | 1-888-996-TIPS | e-mail Bigad
Santa Rosa prepares for next big earthquake
The Great 1906 earthquake devastated the Bay Area, destroying much of San Francisco and killing more than 3,000 people. The city marked the quakes 120th anniversary this weekend, but whats not as widely recognized is the damage to surrounding comunities like Santa Rosa.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. – While the Great 1906 Earthquake was a centerpiece of news around the world when its massive damage and fire destroyed much of San Francisco and took 3,000 lives, another far smaller, far less famous town, suffered massive damage almost forgotten by history.
Nearly forgotten
On this day 120 years ago, stunned people were digging for survivors two nights after the quake. Like a demon in the night, the Great 1906 Earthquake also came to Santa Rosa also bent on mass death and destruction.
Eric Stanley is the history curator and deputy director of the Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa that supplied these pictures. “Santa Rosa, in particular, was devastated by the 1906 earthquake,” he said.
Survivors were shaken awake as whole buildings collapsed around them or on them. “A good portion, a really significant portion, of downtown Santa Rosa was completely destroyed,” said Stanley.
Many never woke up; crushed to death in their sleep. There were over a hundred people killed in the 1906 earthquake in Santa Rosa that only had 7,000 people in it at the time,” said the curator.
Active fault line
Sixty-three years later, in 1969, a time of budding, but far better science-based building codes, a double shaker nonetheless did significant damage and killed one person. “Even understanding all those things, you kind of at the earlier stage of that in the sixties,” said Stanley.
Today, four of Santa Rosa’s School buildings lie near or on the Rodgers Creek Earthquake Fault, capable of up to a 7.3 magnitude rupture. One is already closed with another due to close at the end of the school year for budgetary reasons.
That leaves two elementary schools, Hidden Valley, alongside the fault and Proctor, on the fault. The school board says both are seismically sound and safe to continue operating. “The two that are remaining open are both the ones that have the potential and the ability to grow because the entire site is not impacted by the fault line,” said Nick Caston, Santa Rosa City School Board president.
Staying prepared
In other words, things can and will eventually be moved around.
“What we’re gonna end up having to do is redesign the campus over the next several decades to have our fields and our parking in the front, which are totally acceptable to be over a fault line and actually move our academic builds and our student-serving buildings to the back,” said Caston.
Ultimately, the pictures and relics museums hold from natural disasters are given to those who come, a lesson and a warning. “Real people went through these experiences and we really do have to be aware of that and do our very best to prepare for those kinds of things,” said Stanley.
The 1933 Field Act requires earthquake-safe construction of schools, with evolving seismic codes as we learn more.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
Advertisement
So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
Advertisement
They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
Advertisement
Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
Advertisement
Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
Don’t miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!
It’s completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!
-
Wisconsin6 minutes agoDaniel Bice, veteran Wisconsin political reporter and columnist, dies at 62
-
West Virginia12 minutes agoFormer WVU QB Will Grier is Headed Back to Where His NFL Career Started
-
Wyoming18 minutes agoTwo men detained in Wyoming in connection with deadly shooting at downtown Salt Lake hotel
-
Crypto24 minutes agoScattered Spider hacker pleads guilty to stealing $8 million in cryptocurrency – Help Net Security
-
Finance30 minutes agoReilly Barnes Returns to Little League® as Purchasing/Finance Assistant
-
Fitness36 minutes agoThese 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique
-
Movie Reviews48 minutes agoSix 100-Word Movie Reviews
-
World60 minutes agoWarsh's path to top Fed job entangled ahead of Senate confirmation hearing