Nearly six years after an explosion ignited a nine-alarm blaze at a power station in South Boston, the first responders who fought the fire are suffering from chronic respiratory, sinus and digestive troubles, the Herald has learned.
In interviews with the Herald, Boston firefighters who were saturated with lubricating oil while battling the Oct. 1, 2002, fire inside the massive Sithe New Boston Station described surgeries and hospitalizations to clear sinuses, remove tonsils and adenoids, and drain fluids in their lungs.
They also described persistent acid reflux, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, runny noses, fatigue, nasal polyps and allergies.
We felt like the ducks and seagulls from the Exxon Valdez,†said firefighter Kevin F. McNiff, 47, who spent hours fighting the fire inside the Summer Street plant with his company from Ladder 18.“I wanted to know why I was getting these symptoms and why the other guys were getting them and what the long-term effects are,†said McNiff, a father of three from Braintree. “I just know I was never the same after that. I’m still not the same, but I do my job.â€
The firefighters’ plight is the subject of civil litigation against the plant operators, Sithe Energies Inc., Exelon New Boston LLC and Exelon New England Power Services Inc., court records show.
In a complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court, attorneys for 10 Hub firefighters claim that the oil and thick oily smoke let off by the fire quickly rendered useless the Scott Air-Paks that the firefighters use to breathe. The firefighters said they had to remove the masks.
“We had masks on at first and then with all the oil seeping into the regulator and into the seams it was sliding off our face,†said firefighter John F. Nee, 36, who was with Engine 39. “We were drinking (oil) through the regulator. I took the mask off because I couldn’t breathe. It was useless.â€
west coast 911 news source: Boston Herald / Read Entire Article
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