Thanking the Brave: International Firefighters’ Day 2025
This year Sunday 4th May marks International Firefighters’ Day — a day to not only remember all of the firefighters who have lost their lives but also to support the brave firefighters who continue to put themselves in danger’s way to protect our communities each and every day of the year, often placing themselves at the risk of considerable injury, jeopardising their health and even losing their lives all in the line of duty.
Unfortunately, it is not just the horror of an uncontained fire that poses a direct threat to their life, but also the type of building or location they find themselves within when combating the flames can cause risk to their future health.
Asbestos Exposure Risks for Firefighters
One of the primary causes of cancer that firefighters face is asbestos, which causes a respiratory cancer known as mesothelioma in some people.
Older housing structures, commercial industrial buildings, farmland structures and even boilers often contain asbestos insulation and other asbestos materials. When a fire erupts, the ensuing damage to a building structure can sometimes release asbestos fibres into the air, which can then lead to the toxic fibres being inhaled. This makes firefighters liable to being exposed to large amounts of asbestos dust when an old building is on fire. Exposure to asbestos dust in some firefighters will cause asbestos diseases such as asbestosis or mesothelioma.
Firefighters today are provided with information about asbestos dangers by their employers. However, for the firefighters of the past, it is too late for some of them as the damage to their health from their work has already been caused. Historically, firefighters suffered direct exposure to, and handling of, firefighting materials which contained asbestos, for instance anti-flash hoods and gauntlets which made up part of the typical firefighting uniform. The anti-flash hoods previously used by firefighters were placed over their heads when tackling chemical fires, the hood itself contained within it a small window through which the firefighter could survey the site around them. The asbestos gauntlets were used for the most part to deal with road traffic accidents when firefighters had to cut away metal from the car roof to free persons trapped within. The underlying risk to health from the anti-flash hoods and gauntlets was not isolated to the situation where the firefighter had to deal with an actual incident but also arose during training exercises where both were used on a regular basis.
Typically, up until the 1970s, firefighters were routinely provided by their Fire Brigade employers with these anti-flash hoods and gauntlets made of asbestos cloth which were meant to “protect” them. The items may have protected them from flames, but the Fire Brigade employers did not consider the health risks firefighters would suffer to their lungs by using these items, even though the risks of asbestos were widely known by this time. It is astonishing that a firefighter placed an actual asbestos cloth hood over their face and therefore inhaled asbestos dust, putting their lungs directly at risk and no one did anything about this until the 1970s. The anti-flash hoods and asbestos gauntlets were provided to protect life but in reality they helped plant the seed of a life-threatening asbestos related disease which will develop decades later in some of those firefighters.
The breathing apparatus regularly worn by firefighters today was not available nor provided for many years and in fact it was often the case that only one or two firefighters on the fire appliance were authorised to use breathing apparatus. Indeed, until the 1970s breathing apparatus was only used where there was a “loss of life risk” and on order of the Officer in Charge. All these firefighters therefore were putting out fires without any appropriate protection to stop them inhaling asbestos dust and their Fire Brigade employers allowed this to happen.
Honouring Acts of Bravery by Firefighters
If it was not for our brave firefighters, many people would have died but have been saved due to firefighters risking their own life to save others. It is condemnable that some of those very firefighters are now being repaid for their bravery not with a medal or other recognition but with the development of mesothelioma which ultimately will take their life.
On a day like International Firefighters’ Day, it is vital to not only recognise the hard work that firefighters partake in, but to draw attention to some of the preventable dangers that threaten their very existence and to support those former firefighters who, decades after dedicating their life to saving others, are now faced with asbestos diseases. For many firefighters, their heroism and bravery are not part and parcel of an everyday job – it is a vocation and fraternity where all look after one another and are proud of the assistance they provide to our society. When one of their own develops mesothelioma, it is a strike to them all and a permanent worry for those left behind wondering if they will be the next firefighter to be diagnosed with this cancer.
Mesothelioma Compensation for Firefighters
If you’ve been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you can talk to us for advice and support on how to secure compensation. Our asbestos disease case handlers have a significant amount of experience in pursuing cases for firefighters who have developed asbestos related diseases, all of which sits alongside a successful track record of holding negligent parties to account to redress wrongs. After speaking with us, our team can help evaluate exactly what happened to you, examine which parties may have been responsible for your exposure and identify possible sources of compensation and DWP benefits.
For Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors celebrating as well as helping our brave firefighters goes beyond the day job. Our case handlers have also been actively involved in campaigning for change to protect today’s firefighters, by working with and advising health and safety representatives to ensure policies today consider the health risks from historical asbestos materials still in many buildings today.
If you would like to speak with one of our legal experts, please call us on 0330 822 3451 or request a callback.