That’s because more research in recent years shows firefighters are nine times more likely to get cancer than the average person.
>> Fire departments use saunas to reduce exposure to contaminants
“Carcinogens that we are exposed to in today’s fires are not the same as what they were exposed to even a couple decades ago,” Lacy said.
A couple years ago, one of the firefighters had a foot detox bath, which was an eye-opening moment for many in the department.
“After he got done with that, it was a day after the fire, the water was literally black and that was just from him soaking his feet in this detox foot bath so we know there’s contaminants out there and we know they get in our pores. We want to do our best to eliminate those,” Assistant Chief Paul Brown said.
That's one of the reasons they now have the sauna.
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“It’s beneficial to get as much as that — the toxins — off and out of you as you possibly can,” Brown said.
While the department said there's no definitive research that proves the sauna helps to prevent cancer, it does have other benefits.
“Probably almost every single shift I use it. I personally really enjoy having it,” he said.
The department likely not have this sauna if it were not for a donation from Sammye Harrison of Barclay’s Clothiers in Piqua a little more than three years ago.
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