They came out of the warehouse with their hazardous material gear on. One by one they were sprayed clean of the chemicals. As their protective gear was stripped away a couple of the firefighters looked to be having a hard time breathing, and at least one looked overweight. A viewer was curious about this and emailed us. What I found was surprising even to some firefighters. Many departments have no standards when it comes to the condition of their firefighters. You can watch my story at this link.
A Harvard study of firefighting recruits actually found 75 percent were overweight, and 1/3 were obese. The study also pointed out that being overweight was a risk to the firefighter and the other firefighters relying on them.
It’s not a topic often discussed and I’m told by a longtime Boston firefighter it’s a concern but not a high priority. There are a couple of smaller departments in New England that have adopted a physical fit standard, but many including Boston, the biggest and oldest department in Massachusetts has not.
Should there be a standard? Does being unfit in this line of work present a danger?
