Firefighters return to Largs North fire station after PFAS contamination

More than a year after abandoning the Largs North station because of chemical contamination, firefighters are returning to the site

Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard, behind MFS Chief Officer Michael Morgan. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Martin

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Firefighters will return to the Largs North fire station that was abandoned more than a year ago after it emerged that the site was saturated with a toxic chemical linked to cancer and other deadly diseases.

The Metropolitan Fire Service has proposed Tuesday as the day when the firefighters will resume full-time operation at the station.

Firefighters walked out of the station in December 2018 after it was discovered their bloodstreams contained between 40 and 120 times the safe level of a chemical called PFAS.

An update posted to firefighters this month by MFS chief officer Michael Morgan, pictured, said final testing had shown the station was “adequately clean’’.

Mr Morgan said PFAS testing was now also taking place at stations in Port Adelaide, Elizabeth, Oakden, Camden Park and Mount Gambier because of “elevated PFAS blood levels in firefighters and/or PFAS levels in soil”.

GHD testing the soil and fruit trees in the chicken coop and surrounding area of the Largs North MFS station in 2018. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

However, he said the stations were safe for firefighters.

PFAS is a common chemical compound that has been around since the 1950s. It was a key ingredient in firefighting foam until the MFS stopped using it in 2014.

One US study linked six serious illnesses to PFAS, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer and ulcerative colitis.

PFAS is also at the centre of Australia’s largest class action, with 40,000 people living on contaminated land near defence basis suing the Federal Government.

It is understood there are mixed feelings among firefighters about returning to Largs North. Some are said to be worried about their health, while others are keen to return. A wife of one Largs North firefighter said she was “apprehensive’’ about the return to the station. “From my perspective, there has been so much trust lost in this whole process that it will be hard to win back,’’ she said.

Mr Morgan said the MFS had “addressed all concerns regarding Largs North’’ and SafeWorkSA had confirmed the site was now suitable for the firefighters to return.

United Firefighters’ Union secretary Max Adlam acknowledged “remediation steps’’ had been taken but also urged the MFS to “expedite base-level blood testing of firefighters prior to the reoccupation of the station’’.

She also said the MFS should move quicker on remediating other stations. The MFS has committed to blood testing of Largs North firefighters. A report by Victorian fire service chief and PFAS expert Mick Tisbury, commissioned by the MFS last year, concluded firefighters should not return to Largs North. The MFS kept the report secret and commissioned another report from engineering firm GHD, which concluded it was safe for firefighters to return.

Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard said he was committed to providing a safe workplace and was “open to negotiations” with firefighters who wanted to return to the Largs North station.

Originally published as Firefighters return to Largs North fire station after PFAS contamination