Quincy councilors pass proposal for new protective gear for firefighters

QUINCY, Mass. - Councilors unanimously passed a $2.5 million proposal to buy a new truck and gear for firefighters in Quincy.

Dozens of Quincy firefighters poured into Monday's city council meeting to support the proposal which would protect crews from dangerous cancer-causing carcinogens.

"We need to protect them like they protect us," retired Quincy firefighter Bill Arienti said. "I'm happy to support this."

Arienti knew the job he signed up for decades ago was dangerous, and so did his father, former Quincy Fire Lieutenant Charlie Arienti.

Arienti's father lost his battle with kidney cancer in 1981 at just 55 years old, and his son is confident he developed the disease from exposure to toxins on the job.

Just like his dad, Arienti was diagnosed with another form of cancer in 2016.

He believes it's directly related to fighting a massive fire at Home Depot in the mid 1990's, when he was exposed to an extremely toxic combination of motor oil, pool chemicals and fertilizers.

Arienti says about half the firefighters there ended up battling cancer.

"We went up to the hospital after the fire and got blood tests,' Arienti said. "Guys were going up there, and had the big belt buckles and the belt buckles had turned green. The next day, our gear, all the buckles on our gear were green."

Boston 25's Blair Miller spent months working with local fire departments looking into the alarming rate at which firefighters are dying of cancer.

>>MORE: Boston's Bravest: Facing a Hidden Killer

Since the special aired, lawmakers on the local and national level have pledged to learn more about the crisis, and help those who spend their lives protecting everyone else.

"Even if you're able to get off the job without getting cancer, who's to say five years down the road the last fire you went to wasn't the one that caused you to get cancer?" Arienti said.

Cox Media Group