By William Kaempffer
New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The discovery of asbestos in rubble at this month's downtown fire that destroyed the former Kresge Department Store building has raised concerns about potential long-term effects on firefighters, who for hours breathed in the thick, acrid smoke while battling the blaze.

In typical fires, firefighters wear Scott air packs to protect them from the smoke. An air canister lasts about 30 minutes, but can run out faster during strenuous activity.

But the Dec. 12 blaze, which destroyed half a block downtown, burned out of control for hours as about 60 firefighters doused the buildings with water from the outside, many without air packs.

"I don't foresee it being a problem, but let's make sure we take the necessary precautions," Fire Chief Michael Grant said.

"It's not like the World Trade Center collapse, nothing of that magnitude, but it's certainly something that you want to address, the concerns that the firefighters might have."

Firefighters with concerns have been advised to go for testing to Occupational Health at the Hospital of Saint Raphael, Grant said.

St. Raphael's spokesman Rick Scavetta said seven city firefighters were checked out at the clinic Dec. 12 and Dec. 13.

Andy Rizzo, the head of New Haven's Livable City Initiative, said of the dozen samples of debris sent to the state Department of Public Health for analysis, he believed two came back as positive for asbestos.

He didn't believe there was a great amount, but said he hadn't read the report himself.

"Certainly, there's always a concern in a fire in an old building with the Fire Department," he said, but stressed that daily monitoring since the fire has shown safe air quality levels.

The concern, said Firefighter Patrick Egan, the fire union president, is whether asbestos fibers or dangerous chemicals tainted the choking smoke that billowed for hours.

The actual levels of asbestos found at the site were not available. A Department of Public Health spokeswoman said it provides results from testing only to the agency that requested the checks. Rizzo said he didn't have access to the results.

Even six years later, the longterm health ramifications from the World Trade Center site are still unfolding.

A 2006 study by doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center determined that nearly 70 percent of recovery workers who responded to the attacks have suffered lung problems, and high rates of lung "abnormalities" continue. Many of the workers spent weeks at the site.

New York City has created the World Trade Center Health Registry to help track the health issues of people who were exposed to the WTC site.

Fire Lt. James Kottage, another union official, said the heightened concern about the Kresge building fire largely revolves around the asbestos and duration firefighters were exposed to the smoke and fumes.

"You have some guys who were at the fire for 10, 14 hours," said Kottage. Air quality tests conducted after the fact, he said, wouldn't account for what was in the smoke while the fire was burning.

So far, he has submitted seven "exposure claims" for firefighters and he knew other fire officers submitted them for their crews also.

The union was considering filing a blanket claim to put the asbestos exposure on record in the event of future illness, said Egan.

The discovery of asbestos "raises a concern that we always have on a general basis anyway," Egan said.

"You can't pinpoint exactly how something like that will affect you 10, 15 years down the road."

Dr. Carl R. Baum, who specializes in environmental toxicology at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, said asbestos exposure is "notorious for having delayed onset of symptoms."

Asbestos, which is fire resistant, commonly is found in older buildings in floor tiles, roofing material and insulation, although Rizzo said the roof at Kresge came back "clean."

In a fire, with all the destruction that is associated with a major blaze, that material can be released into the air, creating a hazard, Baum said.

Copyright 2007 New Haven
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