The Foundation set itself a goal it described plainly on its own site: an extractor in every Houston fire station. At roughly $9,000 a unit across ninety-three stations, it was a substantial economic undertaking for a volunteer-run charity, and it was met by approaching private industry station by station.
What an extractor does.
Studies have repeatedly shown that firefighter protective clothing picks up highly toxic contaminants, some linked to long-term health disorders. Dirty gear was once worn as a badge of experience. It is now understood as a health hazard. NFPA 1851 sets out requirements for what the standard calls advanced cleaning, and the extractor is the machine that does it.
The Unimac 40-pound washer extractor became the machine of choice for the Houston Fire Department. The Foundation’s ledger records the purchases in batches across several years, including twenty-nine units in July 2019, twenty in March 2019 and fifteen in April 2021, alongside single-station purchases and the chemicals and bases that go with them.
Why it took years.
Corporate partners funded the programme in pieces. CITGO’s donation covered nineteen stations on its own. Other gifts covered one station at a time. The Foundation has since equipped each of the ninety-three fire stations with an extractor designed to rid gear of the carcinogens picked up while fighting fires.
Drawn from the Foundation’s own account of this story.