RESOURCES
Resources for Fire Departments
Plain-language guides and research summaries on turnout gear cleaning, decontamination, and the funding that helps departments access it — written for chiefs, health and safety officers, and PPE officers.
PPE Cleaning & Care
How turnout gear is cleaned, how often it should happen, and how the methods compare.
Firefighter Turnout Gear Cleaning: A Complete Guide
Routine care, advanced cleaning, inspection, and logistics — and where to check current standards and manufacturer instructions.
READ ARTICLETurnout Gear Cleaning vs. Decontamination: What's the Difference?
Routine cleaning, advanced cleaning, and decontamination are not the same thing. Here is what each one means.
READ ARTICLEHow Often Should Firefighter PPE Be Cleaned?
The cadence question, answered with current standards and manufacturer requirements.
READ ARTICLETurnout Gear Extractors vs. Advanced Decontamination
What extractors are built to do, where they fit in PPE care, and how to assess additional options.
READ ARTICLEContamination & Exposure
What stays in gear after a fire, and what the research says about exposure and cancer risk.
What Contaminants Can Remain in Firefighter Turnout Gear?
Which substances can stay in gear after a fire, and how exposure continues after the call ends.
READ ARTICLEFirefighter PPE, PFAS & Contamination: What Departments Should Know
What is known about PFAS in turnout gear and related textiles, what remains uncertain, and what to ask.
READ ARTICLEFirefighter Gear and Cancer Risk: What the Research Actually Says
Established evidence, exposure pathways, and unproven claims, kept separate.
READ ARTICLEFirefighter Cancer Prevention: The Role of Clean Gear
Clean gear as one part of a broader exposure-reduction approach to firefighter cancer prevention.
READ ARTICLELiquid CO₂ Decontamination
How liquid CO₂ decontamination works, and how it compares with traditional washing.
Liquid CO₂ Firefighter PPE Decontamination: How It Works
How the process works on firefighter PPE, what it is designed to do, and its limitations.
READ ARTICLETraditional Washing vs. Liquid CO₂ Decontamination for Firefighter Gear
Purposes, workflows, constraints, and evidence for both approaches, compared side by side.
READ ARTICLEStandards & Research
The standards and studies behind PPE care, explained in plain language.
Funding & Access
Grants, funding options, and how Afterburn helps departments pay for decontamination.
Firefighter PPE Cleaning & Decontamination Funding
Afterburn's funding pathway: eligibility, the application process, and how sponsorship funds support access.
READ ARTICLEFirefighter PPE Grants: Funding Options for Departments
Equipment grants versus help paying for PPE care — and where Afterburn fits, stated plainly.
READ ARTICLECan Volunteer Fire Departments Get Help Paying for PPE Decontamination?
Access barriers for volunteer and rural departments, and how eligibility actually works.
READ ARTICLEHow Afterburn's Clean Gear Program Works for Fire Departments
From application and qualification through sponsorship, service, and impact reporting.
READ ARTICLE
NEED HELP FOR YOUR DEPARTMENT?
Apply for Funding
If cost is limiting your department's access to advanced decontamination, Afterburn may be able to help.
WANT TO HELP?
Sponsor a Firefighter
$500 provides one firefighter with a year of advanced decontamination access.