CITGO Petroleum Corporation presented the Fire Fighters Foundation of Houston with a donation earmarked for extractors, the industrial machines that clean cancer-causing material out of firefighters’ clothing and equipment after use in the field. The contribution allowed the Houston Fire Department to install an extractor in each of nineteen stations.
That was Foundation chairman Lee Vela, who described the extractors as central to limiting firefighters’ exposure to contamination hazards, and thanked CITGO for helping protect long-term health and wellness across the department.
Why extractors matter.
When the synthetic materials in modern electronics, appliances and fabrics burn, they release carcinogens. Firefighters are directly exposed while working to put the fire out. The International Association of Fire Fighters puts the resulting increase in lifetime cancer risk at up to forty percent. Cleaning gear properly after a fire is a vital step in limiting that exposure.
A pattern of support.
CITGO made similar equipment donations to fire departments in Corpus Christi and Lake Charles, where the company also operates. In Houston, its support goes back further. After Hurricane Harvey, CITGO donated more than 12,000 gallons of fuel to firefighters, law enforcement and other first responders as the city worked to recover.
Drawn from the Foundation’s own account of this story.