Silent Attacker
Toxic diesel exhaust fumes and particulates are most likely present and moving through your fire station bays and rooms, quietly attacking the health of your firefighters. Firefighters spend a large majority of their time surrounded by harmful diesel exhaust fumes, either on scene of an emergency where trucks are running or back at the station where particulates have traveled and landed on food, furniture, clothing, and gear. The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) classifies diesel engine exhaust as a Group 1 carcinogen, with ample scientific research proving that it causes cancer. Don’t risk the health of your crew. Invest in Ward Diesel Filter System’s NO SMOKE vehicle mounted system that automatically filters out harmful exhaust from your vehicles and trucks.
The Importance of Vehicle Diesel Exhaust Filtration at Fire Stations
Firefighter exposure to toxic smoke and chemicals does not only occur on scene of a fire. Firefighters are at a constant risk of exposure and inhalation of diesel exhaust at their fire station as well, where they should be safe.
Truck and emergency vehicles are continuously running while responding to a fire or other emergency, pumping out harmful fumes that can be easily breathed in or absorbed through the skin by anyone in the area. Harmful exhaust particulates from trucks and vehicles running while on scene bind to firefighter gear and clothing and can be easily transported back to the fire station. As a firetruck is backing into or pulling through a station bay, exhaust fumes enter the building, contaminating everything and spreading quickly through the air and building.
Hooking up your firetruck to the exhaust hose system does not provide enough protection to keep your station clean from cancer causing diesel exhaust because it does not protect your crew against the exhaust exposure while responding to an emergency and it does not prevent the diesel exhaust particulates and chemicals attaching to firefighters’ gear while not hooked up to the hose on scene, and contaminating the station when they return.
The Benefits of an Apparatus Mounted Diesel Exhaust System
Simply put, it is safer and more effective to have a direct source, vehicle mounted exhaust filter installed on your trucks and vehicles operating at all times, rather than hooking up to an exhaust hose at the fire station that only filters out a fraction of the overall harmful particulate matter that firefighters regularly come in contact with.
According to an International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) report, harmful contaminants that firefighters are exposed to can be traced back to the fire station. A study of 26 fire stations found dangerously high levels of diesel exhaust particulates present in fire station kitchens, bunkroom walls, and furniture, increasing firefighter exposure to diesel exhaust and placing them at elevated risks of developing occupational cancer.
Ward Diesel Filter Systems is dedicated to reducing the rates of firefighter occupational cancer and strives to continually improve our diesel exhaust filter systems to meet industry changes and demands. Our NO SMOKE products are the only vehicle mounted, direct source diesel exhaust capture systems on the market today. Our newest model, NO SMOKE 2, specially designed for diesel vehicles from 2007, 2010, and newer, requires no diverter, filtering exhaust automatically and continually whenever the vehicle is running.
Having a mobile, vehicle mounted diesel exhaust filter eliminates firefighters’ and other emergency responders’ exposure to harmful exhaust chemicals and particulates on the scene of a fire or an emergency. With this exposure risk eliminated, firefighters are no longer unknowing carriers of exhaust particulates into the fire station and are not subjected to breathing in toxic fumes or absorbing them through exposed skin.
Implementing a vehicle mounted diesel exhaust filter system also eradicates the risk of firefighter exhaust particulate exposure at the fire station. Because the NO SMOKE system is always filtering, there is no filtering lost when the firetruck is parked at the station, ensuring all the diesel exhaust is completely filtered until the vehicle is turned off. This stops the spread of dangerous chemicals through the fire station whenever a truck is turned on, whether leaving or returning.
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The risk of exposure to cancer causing diesel exhaust extends to fire stations, just like an on scene emergency. Implementing a direct source, vehicle mounted diesel filter system is the best and most effective way to eliminate firefighter diesel exhaust exposure, mitigating the risk of developing cancers or other problematic health conditions. Ward Diesel Filter Systems is proud to support firefighter health practices and offers our NO SMOKE line of vehicle mounted exhaust filter systems to protect firefighters wherever they are.
Want more information on how NO SMOKE eliminates toxic exhaust exposure? Contact us today!