Ottawa CommunityThe union for Ottawa firefighters is asking city council to protect its members by funding laundry appliances at every station in the city. The group is trying to prevent its members from getting cancer. Association making its request as part of ongoing 2026 city budget talksListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Ottawa’s fire department wants washers and dryers at every station to protect members from cancerReporter Arthur White-Crummey breaks down what’s in the 2026 budget for Ottawa’s paramedics, firefighters and bylaw officers — and the “low hanging fruit” that’s not, according to one union.The union for Ottawa firefighters is asking city council to protect its members by funding laundry appliances. On Thursday during a city council committee meeting discussing the draft 2026 budget, Genna McMillan, president of the Ottawa Professional Fire Fighters Association, made a request for a washer and dryer at every station, calling the demand “low hanging fruit.”It’s also a safety concern.In recent years, the International Agency of Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, declared firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning it found sufficient evidence to link the job to the risk of certain cancers. “We see every year increasing numbers of retired members and active members that are getting cancer diagnoses,” McMillan said. “So we feel that there are some easy preventative measures that could be implemented that would help reduce those risks.”Laundry could be the easiest, McMillan said, explaining that contaminants can seep under the protective gear her members wear and stick to their uniforms. “Having a washer and dryer to launder our contaminated clothing is a reasonable and attainable ask. It is something common within the fire service and stations across this nation, but is unfortunately not universally seen here in Ottawa.“This will help keep these toxins out of our personal homes and away from the laundry facilities that are used by our partners, our children and members of our family.”Ventilation a priority tooMcMillan said that roughly 15 of the 45 fire stations in the city have washers and dryers. If firefighters don’t want to bring their uniforms home, they have the option of using internal mail to ship them to a station with laundry facilities. “Obviously people have concerns about sending their clothing somewhere else to be washed,” she said. “The alternative is to take your rigs over to those stations while the laundry gets done. Then there’s gaps in the level of service that we’re providing to the communities.”McMillan also asked councillors for funding to ensure the areas where gear is stored have proper ventilation.Fire Chief Paul Hutt said health and wellness is the service’s top priority, with cancer prevention being “top of our mind.” “Every member in Ottawa Fire Service suppression has two sets of fire bunker gear,” Hutt said. “If it gets soiled in a fire, it goes for laundry and they put a new set on.”He said facility upgrades will take time, since some of the stations are a century old.“It is still our priority to get that done,” he said.Union says staffing remains a concernThe budget is proposing to make other investments in health and safety for firefighters, including $3.6 million in capital funding to replace breathing apparatuses that are reaching the end of their lifecycle.The budget also calls for a nine-per-cent funding increase to the Ottawa Fire Service, in part to help cover a negotiated collective agreement. But it won’t increase the number of firefighters.“Staffing has always been a concern for us,” McMillan said. “We do have vehicles that aren’t in service on a daily basis based on the amount of people who are on vacation or on approved forms of leave. We would like to see staffing levels be four individuals on all apparatus within the city. We currently don’t have that model.”By contrast, the Ottawa Paramedic Service is getting a staffing boost, with 23 more full-time equivalent positions. Chief Pierre Poirier said it will support initiatives to reduce response times.The budget will also fund six more by-law officers. Roger Chapman, the director of by-law and regulatory services, said one will enforce property standards while the other five will focus on parking.River ward Coun. Riley Brockington, chair of the emergency and protective services committee, pushed for more enforcement in school zones – especially more coordination with police.He said he sees frequent infractions, from U-turns to violations of no-stopping rules.“I really do want to see a refreshed campaign,” he said.ABOUT THE AUTHORArthur White-Crummey is a reporter at CBC Ottawa. He has previously worked as a reporter in Saskatchewan covering the courts, city hall and the provincial legislature. You can reach him at arthur.white-crummey@cbc.ca.
Firefighter union wants washers and dryers in every Ottawa station to prevent cancer
