New protective gear for Sault Fire Services

Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services is receiving new protective gear that is said to be safer than traditional equipment.

The new gear is free of chemicals commonly referred to as PFAS, and the Sault is the first city in Canada to receive it.

Firefighters were joined by product distributor AJ Stone and manufacturer Innotex at Fire Station 1 for the official unveiling of the new equipment.

“The historic and older versions of the gear contain the PFAS chemical,” said Fire Chief Peter Johnson.

“Essentially, those are the forever chemicals that essentially the firefighters will get micro doses every day that they wore the gear. And now that the new technology that’s available to us, it is PFAS-free.”

“This is brand new to the market,” said Steve Dionne of AJ Stone.

“Sault Ste. Marie was the first department in Canada to actually purchase the not-made-with-PFAS bunker gear. So that’s why this is exciting.”

“That was only introduced last year and came to market where it was available in the fall of last year,” said Tanja Wleklinski of Innotex.

“And so, we have been producing suits with it that have been going out for delivery since March.”

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Johnson said with the high rates of cancer firefighters typically contend with, limiting exposure to carcinogens is a priority.

He said the presence of PFAS in protective gear has been a hot topic among firefighters for a number of years.

The purchase of the gear was made possible by a $300,000 budget approval from city council.