NH Firefighter Builds Dryers to Prevent Cancer for Colleagues

ROCHESTER, NH—A local firefighter's DIY ingenuity will save the city thousands of dollars and help the city Fire Department more effectively decrease its employees' exposure to carcinogens.

Firefighter Sam Morrill recently built rack-like dryers for the protective firefighting clothing at Rochester's Central and Gonic fire stations, using plans he found online.

All told, Morrill's creations will help the department avoid purchasing specialized commercial dryers that can cost more than $10,000 apiece, dramatically cut down the gear's lengthy dry time, and improve the department's cancer prevention efforts.

"It's a hot topic for us to focus on and help mitigate it," said Morrill, a member of RFD's C Shift. "It's good to save some money and it's a good cause."

During a recent City Council meeting, a packed room of firefighters, city staff, city councilors and Morrill's family honored Morrill with a standing ovation while recognizing him as February's employee of the month for his efforts.

The ingenuity comes at a time in which cancer is the leading cause of firefighter illness and death.

A number of Seacoast firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer in recent years. Several have succumbed to cancer, including Newington Fire Chief Darin Sabine at the age of 35 this past September.

C Shift's own Tyler Thurber was diagnosed with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin lymphoma, at the age of 25 in 2018. Thurber's cancer is now in remission and he returned to duty in January 2019.

Morrill said he wanted to take action, both to help other firefighters in the future as well as eliminate a common shift frustration for Rochester firefighters.

"The drying time was taking forever," said Morrill.

The department has multiple sets of protective turnout gear for each firefighter. After responding to fires, firefighters use special washing machines known as extractors at each station to clean their gear.

Previously, it typically took two or three days for each set of washed gear to fully dry in "perfect" weather conditions, according to Morrill and C Shift Capt. Mark Avery.

Morrill's do-it-yourself dryers slash that drying time to just four to six hours. The devices cost under $1,000 to construct and use a commercial floor dryer to push cool air through the PVC pipes upon which the gear is hung.

"They've been in almost constant use since we built them," said Avery, who nominated Morrill for the employee of the month honor.

Morrill and his colleagues on C Shift built the dryers across multiple shifts in December and January. Firefighters used money from their training budget to purchase the required materials.

Since then, other area fire departments have reached out to Morrill and Rochester for input on how to build the dryers, including Milton and Strafford.

Avery lauded Morrill for meeting an "urgent need" and acknowledged RFD may build one or more additional units to more effectively assist its personnel, based on the success seen thus far.

City Manager Blaine Cox similarly lauded Morrill while recognizing him as the city's employee of the month.

"The units work very well," said Cox. "As a result, we have the drying units we need at a large savings for the city."

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