Committee backs application for firefighter exposure grant to buy PPE and install exhaust system at Station 2

The finance committee voted 5-0 to authorize the mayor to apply for a firefighter exposure-to-environmental-elements grant from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. The fire department presented the request and described planned purchases and equipment.

City staff said the department would use grant funds to buy barrier hoods, washable gloves and to install a diesel exhaust capture and removal system at Station 2. A staff speaker described the diesel-exhaust capture system as one that “hooks to the actual exhaust pipe of the [fire] vehicles … so the diesel exhaust is actually being emitted outside the building.” The presenter said confined quarters at Station 2 make exhaust capture particularly important and cited national fire-service concerns about cancer risks related to diesel exhaust.

Michelle Bowman Smith, a resident who identified herself by name and street address for the record, commented during the public-comment period: “I think this is a good beginning. I don't think it covers all the things that I think are necessary to help the firefighters against the dangers that are presented by cancer in their occupation. They don't get enough help.” She asked for more information on what the city and fire department plan to do beyond the grant-funded purchases.

The committee voted to forward the grant-application authorization to the full council; committee members did not appropriate local matching funds or adopt a larger program at this meeting.