Older Fire Stations Designed Before 1990 Could Have Drains, Gear Lockers, and PFAS Floors

Older firehouses constructed before current chemical rules could still include PFAS residue in their building materials and wastewater systems

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 - Because of antiquated materials and inadequately managed runoff systems, fire stations built before 1990 are under close examination as possible long-term sources of PFAS exposure. Research on legacy firehouses all throughout the nation has found that floor coatings, concrete fractures, gear lockers, and drainage systems may still contain PFAS residues--leftover from decades of usage of firefighting foam. Before the full hazards of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were generally known, these buildings frequently housed central hubs for foam handling, cleanup, and storage. By coming into touch with contaminated surfaces or by leaching into the local water system, firefighters and neighbors could be unintentionally exposed to residual PFAS. A PFAS cancer attorney engaged in multiple lawsuits observes that as such buildings blur the border between occupational and environmental exposure, they provide particular legal issues. In recent PFAS water lawsuits, plaintiffs claimed local authorities neglected to modernize or decommission high-risk firehouses even though they knew the health hazards. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) claims that PFAS can linger on indoor surfaces and in water discharge for decades even after foam use has stopped. This implies that even converting to PFAS-free foam does not remove the risk should buildings still be polluted.

Due in part to the great cost of testing and restorations, efforts to find and fix older fire stations have been delayed and erratic. Firehouses are not often included in environmental evaluations unlike training facilities or industrial zones until a known pollution occurrence calls for action. Many legacy buildings so are still utilized everyday without sufficient cleaning procedures or containment improvements. Sometimes fire stations are just blocks away from schools, residential areas, or municipal water sources, which begs questions regarding possible community exposure. Legal professionals predict that as more individuals become aware of the hazards and as testing technology becomes more easily available, litigation involving legacy buildings will rise. Advocates want a national inventory of older firehouses, mandated PFAS testing, and first-priority funding for structural improvements. Fire departments might keep exposing people and the public to low-level but chronic chemical risks without such precautions. Courts may also soon have to decide whether towns that kept or occupied these aged facilities share culpability for downstream health consequences. The legacy of PFAS use in firefighting might be found in the walls, drains, and foundations of the stations themselves as much as in foam.

Opinion Legacy firehouses open a secret chapter in the PFAS narrative just starting to be revealed. Without a national strategy to test and update these structures, nearby people as well as firefighters run continuous risk of exposure. To solve the antiquated infrastructure still containing these pollutants, federal subsidies, and well-defined criteria are desperately needed. Municipalities will be under pressure to act morally as more lawsuits expose these hazards, not just legally. Protecting today's firefighters also means tidying the harmful leftovers from yesterday's fire operations. The past has no place endangering the future.

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