By Mark Squibb
Members of Witless Bay council last week approved first aid training at a cost of $3,000 and hazmat training at a cost of $2,000 for members of the Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department, as requested by the brigade.
January has been a busy month for the department, with crews responding to 32 calls for service, including a structure fire, as noted in the department’s January update, read at last week’s meeting by councillor Justina Nawaz.
The Town of Witless Bay also declared January as Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month during the January 14 public meeting.
As per the Town’s proclamation, research has shown that firefighters face direct exposure to known cancer-causing chemicals and particles. To that end, firefighters have a nine percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14 percent higher risk of dying from cancer than the general population.
The Witless Bay Volunteer Fire Department recently announced it would be switching out their firefighting hoods for new LION Redzone Hoods, which have superior filtration capability, thus reducing exposure to harmful carcinogens.
