MILWAUKEE -- Which Milwaukee fire house will take the chili cook off trophy? Come out Saturday, March 24 to Rock Bottom Brewery on Plankinton Avenue from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Five dollars will get you two beer and chili samples.
Deputy Chief Aaron Lipski and Catherine Zyniecki, President of the Auxiliary to the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters - Local 215 joined us on live at Daybreak to share details about the family-friendly event, and where the money raised will go.
The hope is to raise enough money to install washing machines in every Milwaukee fire house. Deputy Chief Lipski told us on Daybreak, The Auxiliary has raised money for 14 firehouses to have washer machines and we have more to go. There are 31 total fire houses.
They shared startling cancer statistics. 70 percent of firefighter deaths were cancer-related in 2016, according to the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Firefighters also have a nine percent higher risk of getting cancer than the rest of our population.
"The skin is our largest organ, and that's how firefighters become at risk. Their neck, the angle of their jaw, their face is exposed to that, even when they wear heavy coats to protect themselves from the flames. It's the byproducts of those flames that are taking our firefighters earlier than they should," said Zyniecki.
TODAY'S TMJ4's Weekend Daybreak anchor Julia Fello will help judge which fire house will take home the chili cook off trophy. We hope to see you there!
