DAVENPORT — Polk County Fire Rescue has received more than $9,000 to purchase supplies and equipment designed to help reduce the rate of cancer among firefighters.
Jimmy Patronis, Florida's chief financial officer and state fire marshal, visited Polk County Fire Station 38 in Davenport on Thursday to announce the first round of grant recipients under the state's Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Equipment Grant Program. The fund was created in June 2020.
Polk Fire Chief Robert Weech accepted a check for $9,135 with Minneola and New Port Richie fire departments receiving about $11,250 and $10,245, respectively.
"We have to find ways, innovative ways to fight cancer. It's the stuff we can't see that's embedded in our environment that causes it," Weech said. "We know what the risks are with burning buildings, we know what the risks are with the pandemic, this is a hidden risk we have to take seriously."