Established in 1941 near Glendale, Arizona, Luke Air Force Base earned its nickname as the "Home of the Fighter Pilot" after training more than 17,000 pilots during World War II, and today it remains the Air Force's primary training location for F-35 and F-16 pilots. Keeping that high-tempo flight schedule running safely has always depended on a dedicated Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting team, and many of the base's older buildings date back to an era when asbestos was standard in military construction.
An active ARFF mission has run at Luke since its earliest days, protecting fighter aircraft, flight crews, and the airfield itself, and Air Force firefighters historically relied on AFFF because it could put out aviation fuel fires faster than anything else available. Training exercises regularly involved live-fire drills, aircraft crash rescue simulations, fuel spill scenarios, emergency response drills, foam application exercises, and fire suppression equipment training. The Air Force has documented that legacy AFFF containing PFOS and PFOA was used for petroleum fire suppression starting in the 1970s, well before newer formulations replaced it.
Firefighters handled this foam directly and repeatedly, mixing concentrate, operating hoses during live-fire drills, extinguishing simulated aircraft fires, testing proportioning systems, cleaning firefighting vehicles, servicing foam delivery systems, and running aircraft emergency response drills as part of routine readiness training. Because Luke conducts ARFF training regularly to stay prepared for aircraft emergencies, many firefighters have accumulated repeated exposure across their careers.
Roles at Luke with the highest likelihood of AFFF exposure include:
- Air Force Fire Protection Specialists
- Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting personnel
- fire instructors and firefighter trainees
- civilian firefighters assigned to the base
- personnel responsible for maintaining firefighting vehicles and foam systems
Research has tied PFAS chemicals in legacy AFFF to a higher risk of kidney cancer and testicular cancer among firefighters with repeated occupational exposure. Firefighters or fire protection personnel who served at Luke and later received one of these diagnoses may be entitled to compensation.
Construction at Luke began in 1941, placing many of its original buildings squarely in the era when asbestos was the go-to material for fire resistance, insulation, and durability in military facilities. Materials commonly found at the base included:
- block insulation
- duct adhesive
- cement
- acoustical panels
- floor tiles
- wallboard
- shingles
- pipe insulation
- caulk
- electric boards
Anyone doing maintenance, repair, renovation, or demolition work in these older buildings ran the risk of disturbing asbestos and releasing fibers into the air, which is why certain trades carried higher exposure risk than others:
- engineers
- aircraft workers
- electricians
- welders
- HVAC mechanics
- pipefittes
- sheet metal technicians
- civilian contractors
Mesothelioma and lung cancer are the diseases most strongly linked to this type of exposure, with mesothelioma forming in the lining around the lungs, abdomen, heart, or testes, and lung cancer developing directly in the lung tissue, both after asbestos fibers are inhaled or swallowed. Their latency period, often 20 to 50 years, means many veterans who worked in Luke's older facilities won't see a diagnosis until decades after leaving the Air Force. If you developed lung cancer or mesothelioma following asbestos exposure at Luke Air Force Base, our team can help you determine what compensation you're owed.