By Jordan Fouts
The Elkhart Truth
GOSHEN, Ind. — A trio of Goshen firefighters with decades of service were diagnosed with cancer around the same time a few years ago, a common occupational hazard in an already dangerous job.
One of them retired and one of them is still with the department. The third, Assistant EMS Chief Bruce Nethercutt, died two years ago at 53.
The city unveiled the south-side station named in Nethercutt’s honor on the two-year anniversary of his death Friday. Nethercutt died on May 2, 2023, after a one-year fight with what was determined to be job-related cancer.
“We’re not here just to dedicate a building, we’re honoring a life that made a quiet, lasting difference. A life defined not by titles or attention, but by steady service to others,” Mayor Gina Leichty said during the dedication at Station 3 on College Avenue, where Nethercutt served as house captain for several years.
“Bruce didn’t ask us to remember him this way. In fact, his parting words were, ‘Take care of each other,’” Leichty said. “But his message is exactly why we need to remember him this way. Because in naming this building after him, we’re also lifting up the ideals he lived by and the entire team he served with.”
Fire Chief Anthony Powell remembered Nethercutt as a family man who set a standard that his colleagues still follow.
“Chief Nethercutt was many things: He was a husband, he was a father, he was a grandfather, he was a son. And to all of us here at the Goshen Fire Department, he was truly a brother,” Powell said. “Throughout his distinguished career, Bruce embodied the very best of who we aspire to be. A leader who served with compassion, strength and unwavering commitment.”
Nethercutt’s name is inscribed on the Indiana Fallen Firefighters Memorial Wall in Indianapolis and the International Association of Fire Fighters Memorial Wall in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both honor firefighters who died while on duty.
“The sacrifices Bruce made for this community are immeasurable,” Powell said. “Ultimately, he gave his life in the line of duty, sacrificing himself through job-acquired cancer to protect the citizens of Goshen.”
‘Don’t go through what I went through’
The International Association of Firefighters considers cancer the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths. It says almost three-quarters of active-duty deaths among members in 2023 were due to cancer.
Powell explained that much of the risk is due to the chemicals contained in many home furnishings these days. He said crew members now take extra caution to remove residue from equipment or exposed skin when returning from a fire, and gear is kept isolated from the living quarters in a station inside a negative-pressure room.
“Where previously, your furnitures and everything were made of wood, natural wood products, now they’re made with a lot of glue and a lot of synthetic materials,” he said. “Some of the things that we’re doing to help prevent that is, we have wipes that we wipe our skin down that’s exposed. Our gear is bagged on scene and then brought back and washed in our extractors here. Just trying to do some preventative measures.”
The material that firefighters use is another hazard, such as fire-retardant spray applied to gear or the foam that can be sprayed on a blaze. Powell said they no longer use a type of foam that contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are linked to harmful effects on humans and animals.
The Elkhart Fire Department, where multiple firefighters have also been diagnosed with cancer in recent years, stopped using PFAS-containing foam in 2020. The same year, 38-year-old Travis Mahoney died of lung cancer after being diagnosed only a few months earlier.
Battalion Chief Scott McDowell was one of the Goshen firefighters who was diagnosed around the same time as Nethercutt. It’s an illness that firefighters are predisposed to, said McDowell, who returned to work after being cleared by his oncologist following treatment.
“I had Stage 5 throat cancer. Multiple surgeries and all that mess, and chemo and radiation, and obviously rehab. It’s been a long two years,” he said. “I can retire, I’ll have 32 years on the job in August. I enjoy the job, enjoy the profession, I’m not ready to call it quits yet. As long as my health stays good, I’m here as long as I can.”
McDowell said he tries to impress on younger members of the department the need to keep their guard up around potential carcinogenic hazards.
“I get on the rookies about wearing their air packs a little bit longer than what we used to back in the old days, just because of all the chemicals. You just think, with a house fire, off-gasses, the plastics, the synthetics,” he said. “Basically, old days, you wore an air pack, but you’d take them off pretty quick. They’re heavy, uncomfortable. I teach the young guys, if you think you’re done with one bottle, you put another one on. Because I don’t want anybody to go through what I went through.”
He said being smart about the risks can mean something as simple as washing their hands before eating a snack while at a scene long-term, or changing out of their gear and showering as quickly as they can when they get back.
“Trying to be smarter about the contaminants on your gear, on your clothes, on your hands. Awareness, I guess, of the cancer issue in the fire service and being proactive. Hopefully somebody can be here longer than I can,” he said. “If I can teach somebody, one, tell them my story and two, like, ‘Hey, I remember when Chief McDowell said wash your hands before you eat the donut.’ Little things like that. Is it going to happen overnight? Nope. But over 32 years, it got me. And it got Bruce.”
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