r/Firefighting • u/Big_River_Wet • Nov 12 '24

Photos This is ridiculous

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I’m all for the fun and games, but bringing SCBAs into the kitchen? Nah. We all know these things can only get so clean.

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u/Lord-Velveeta Local 125 Nov 12 '24

Yeah unless that SCBA is brand new out of the box, I don't want it anywhere near my food. There is no such thing as a "clean" used SCBA (or any PPE) no matter how well you "clean' it.

293

u/an_angry_Moose Career FF Nov 12 '24

I don’t even want a pack on my body unless I’ve got bunker gear on.

I like the idea of their training, but packs on in the house, especially in the kitchen is a no from me dog.

40

u/ImmediateEffectivebo Nov 12 '24

How is your bunker cleaner than the scba?

5

u/Sillyinz Nov 12 '24

It is common practice these days to have your bunker gear decontaminated (put through a special washer) after fires, especially a real hard working fire where you are interior with a lot of smoke exposure.

While there are still carcinogens in your bunker gear after washing it is certainly less contaminated than the SCBA that doesn’t get as thorough of a cleaning since we have no specialized way to do so.

Also, studies in the past few years have highlighted the fact that the liners in our bunker gear are carcinogenic as well (PFAS).

The firefighting field has made tremendous leaps to avoid unnecessary exposures to carcinogens so bringing them willingly into the kitchen is not a good move.