Business_Spotlight_-_Nr.2_2020

CAREERS & MANAGEMENT 2/2020 Business Spotlight 69

Fotos: picture-alliance/ Reuters/Gene Blevins; patanasak/iStock.com

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

S

earching for survivors in the wreckage

of last year’s deadly fire in Paradise, Cali-

fornia, the battalion chief, Jeremy Pierce,

had to hear and feel his way through the

debris. Black smoke had caused entire

streets to disappear in and near the

small town.

“It was daytime, but you thought

it was night,” he said. Pierce, who has

been fighting wildland fires for 28 years,

knows how to navigate around smoke.

“You have to find pockets of clean air,”

he said, “and keep going until you can’t anymore.”

Pierce has used this technique at many fires, includ-

ing a blaze called the Kincade Fire. He knows that the

toxic vapours can stay in his system long after the

flames have died down and the adrenaline has gone.

Finding a problem

Over the past ten years, scientists have been working

to better understand how firefighters’ exposure to

smoke and chemical vapours affects their long-term

health. In California, the researchers’ work has taken

affect sth. [E(fekt]

, sich auf etw. auswirken

battalion chief

[bE(tÄljEn tSi:f] US

, hier: Leiter(in) der

Feuerbekämpfungstruppe

blaze [bleIz]

, Großbrand,

Feuersbrunst

debris [(debri:]

, Schutt, Trümmer

exposure [Ik(spEUZE]

, Ausgesetztsein

firefighter [(faIEfaItE]

, Feuerwehrmann/-frau

pocket of air

[)pQkIt Ev (eE]

, Luftblase

system [(sIstEm]

, hier: Körper, Organe

technique [tek(ni:k]

, [wg. Aussprache]

vapour [(veIpE] , Dampf

wreckage [(rekIdZ]

, Trümmer, Überreste

Feuerwehrleute sind bei der Brandbekämpfung

nicht nur den Flammen, sondern auch giftigen

Gasen ausgesetzt. Umso dringlicher ist es, die

Folgen dieser Substanzen für die Gesundheit zu

erforschen, wie MAANVI SINGH berichtet.

ADVANCED

A burning issue:

the long-term

health effects of

firefighting