'This will go a big way:' York firefighters get help to prevent cancer
Chris Mowry, a firefighter at York Area United Fire and Rescue, presented boxes of wipes on behalf of the Carney Strong Initiative, which was founded to raise awareness about occupational cancer in the fire service.
Dylan Segelbaum
Chris Mowry saw the award as a fitting tribute.
Mowry is a firefighter at York Area United Fire and Rescue. He previously worked at Midway Fire Rescue in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, where he served with Josh Carney, a battalion chief who died at 41 in 2017, not long after being diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma — connected to firefighting.
Recently, York firefighter Timmy Bair, a 29-year veteran, died after a 21-month battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The disease was also related to his service. He was 65.
“I think it’s an understood, but not often talked about, risk in the fire service,” Mowry said.
On Friday, he presented York City Fire/Rescue Services with four boxes of Firewipes and three packs of Responder Wipes, which allow firefighters to clean carcinogens off their skin at scenes or between calls. He made the gift on behalf of the Carney Strong Initiative, which his former colleague’s family founded to raise awareness and prevent occupational cancer in the fire service.
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“This is a big tool for us,” said York City Fire/Rescue Services Chief David Michaels, who added that the department takes other preventative measures, including using machines to wash gear. “This will go a big way.”
The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety found in a multi-year study that firefighters showed higher rates of certain kinds of cancer than people in the general population. (The review, the agency noted, was limited in several ways, including that it included few women and minorities.)
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More than a dozen firefighters attended the presentation at Rex/Laurel fire station. Bair’s family members were also there.
His son, Nick, said it’s important to raise awareness about occupational cancer.
He said his father didn’t get brain cancer from watching television. It was related to firefighting.
“But if he had to do it all again,” Nick Bair said, “I’m sure he would’ve done the same thing.”
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Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 717-771-2102.
Also of interest, check out this photo gallery related to York City Fire/Rescue Services:
