Carrot River man honours father through stair climbing challenge

Scott was a new member on the Carrot River Fire Department when his parents’ business and home went up in flames in 1990. He said his dad was previously asked to join the department but declined, citing the time requirements of owning a small business. He said his father joined the department by default the night of the fire that destroyed Debienne Service.

Dale was forced to retire about six years ago, while Scott’s term as a firefighter came to an end six months later. The elder Debienne started having health problems early in 2023, and it was determined he had intestinal, colon, and liver cancer, dying less than a year later.

“At this stage we’re going through the battle of having everybody recognize that it was firefighter-related cancer, however, we have been told by many that it is,” Debienne said. The case has so far been rejected by the Workers Compensation Board.

Debienne said many experts, including oncologist Dr. Kenneth Kunz, have determined that firefighters face an increased risk of developing a variety of different types of cancer than does the regular population. We all know the danger of flames and smoke and the potential carcinogens in the firefighting process, but Debienne said there is a sad irony. The protective clothing they wear could have also been making them sick.

“The protectants they put in the gear to protect the firefighters contain carcinogens,” Debienne explained. The textiles in the firefighters’ protective clothing can contain potential cancer-causing chemicals called PFAS. Debienne said at the climb in Calgary, the competitors are not allowed to wear their turnout coat and pants because they may be giving off carcinogens as they are climbing.

He said the gear that doesn’t contain PFAS allows contaminants to pass through, and the AFFF firefighting foam that was once used to fight fires has been discontinued as it had carcinogens in it, and it was bad for the environment.

“We’ve got a lot to learn about how to protect ourselves, and cancer is only one part of it…our gear only protects us to a certain degree.”

Debienne has done the Firefighter Stair Climb Challenge before, but this is the first time he’s doing it in memory of his dad. He has a goal of raising $10,000, and Scott will be wearing his dad’s firefighting helmet while doing the climb.

“I’m hoping that if I do raise $10,000 I will have a couple of moments at the podium at the stair climb to share some of the personal experience and a bit of my story about my dad, and cancer, and firefighters, and how we can do our part to help out” Debienne said.

He added that he would be very grateful for any donation made in his dad’s honour.

“Dad was a big member of our community. He served on the fire department, he was on town council, he was a well-known and very well-respected member of our community, and to me this would be a huge last farewell, if you want to call it that.”

Debienne said if you want to donate in Dale’s honour, don’t click on the top generic link, but click on the second ‘donate here’ link and the money goes onto Scott’s total.

–

Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK

by Cam Lee

Carrot River man honours father through stair climbing challenge

What's Trending