Marine Corps Air Station Yuma is one of the busiest aviation installations in the Marine Corps, supporting roughly 80% of the Corps' air-to-ground aviation training. It's home to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, Marine Aircraft Group 13, and several F-35B squadrons. The base traces its origins to Yuma Army Airfield during World War II before becoming a Marine Corps air station in 1959, and decades of aircraft maintenance, hangar operations, and dedicated firefighter training have made several types of hazardous exposure relevant to those who served there.
Navy environmental restoration records document something unusually specific at MCAS Yuma: a dedicated Fire Training School, designated CAOC 7, where firefighters used open fuel-fired pits from 1952 to 1985, followed by a lined training pit adopted afterward. That's more than three decades of live-fire instruction tied to one mapped location on the installation, and AFFF was the standard suppression agent used throughout because nothing else knocked down Class B fuel fires as quickly.
Crews returned to this site repeatedly over their careers, which meant sustained hands-on contact through:
- mixing foam concentrate before drills
- charging and operating hoses during live-fire exercises
- extinguishing simulated aviation fuel fires
- testing foam proportioning systems
- cleaning firefighting vehicles and gear after each session
- maintaining foam storage and delivery equipment
- repeating certification exercises on a recurring basis
The personnel most exposed to this pattern of training include:
- ARFF crew member
- Marine Fire Protection Specialist
- burn pit training instructor
- firefighter recruit completing initial qualification
- civilian fire department staff
- foam system maintenance technician
PFAS compounds in legacy AFFF have been linked to kidney cancer and testicular cancer among firefighters with this kind of repeated exposure. A diagnosis of one of these cancers following firefighter service or training at MCAS Yuma is worth having reviewed for a claim.
MCAS Yuma has more direct documentation than most installations of this era. The base runs a formal Asbestos and Thermal Insulation Program, and Navy investigators specifically identified asbestos-containing material at the Fire Training School site, debris later removed during remediation. The base's own program identifies these tasks as exposure sources:
- removing insulation
- pulling up floor tile
- working on aircraft or vehicle brakes
- repairing pipe systems
Materials commonly present in the installation's older hangars and utility spaces included:
- steam line lagging
- vinyl floor mastic
- brake and friction components
- roofing felt
- fireproof wall panels
- gasket and packing material
The trades most exposed to this material through their day-to-day work include:
- aircraft structural mechanic
- hydraulics technician
- steamfitter
- brake and friction specialist
- facilities repair crew member
- civilian maintenance contractor
Being diagnosed with lung cancer or mesothelioma after your time at Yuma may trace back further than you'd expect, these illnesses can take up to half a century to surface after someone's last exposure, long enough that most veterans never think to connect a new diagnosis back to a hangar or utility room they worked in decades earlier. Our team can review your service history and let you know if you're eligible to file.