Located about 6 miles southeast of Fallon, Nevada, the installation began in 1942 under the Army Air Corps as part of the Western Defense Program before the Navy took control in 1943 and commissioned it as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Fallon in 1944. It was redesignated Naval Air Station Fallon in 1972 and today hosts the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center, including the world-famous TOPGUN program, along with the Fallon Range Training Complex and the Navy's longest runway at 14,000 feet. Building out that mission over the decades meant constructing aircraft hangars, flight line facilities, fire stations, and steam and mechanical systems, much of it during and after World War II when asbestos-containing materials were standard throughout military construction.
AFFF exposure at Naval Air Station Fallon
Sustaining high-tempo naval aviation operations for decades has required NAS Fallon's Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting personnel to stay ready for aircraft crash emergencies and aviation fuel fires. Official Navy environmental restoration records identify historical firefighter training areas at the installation included in investigations tied to legacy AFFF, and firefighters historically trained using live-fire scenarios that simulated aircraft fuel fires to maintain that readiness.
A firefighter working through this training routine would typically start by igniting a controlled burn to mimic an aircraft fire, then work through applying and testing the foam itself, wrapping up each session by servicing the trucks and topping off the storage tanks before the cycle repeated:
- igniting fuel to simulate aircraft crash scenarios
- applying AFFF to knock down the live fire
- calibrating proportioning systems to check the foam-to-water mix
- cleaning crash response vehicles once training ended
- restocking foam storage tanks between exercises
Navy firefighters and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting personnel carried the bulk of this exposure, joined by fire instructors, firefighter trainees, fire apparatus operators, and the staff who maintained foam systems and crash response vehicles. The chemicals in that foam carry an established cancer risk for firefighters exposed this way over time:
If your firefighter service at Naval Air Station Fallon included this kind of training and you've since received one of these diagnoses, our team can review your history and let you know whether you're eligible to file an AFFF claim.
Asbestos exposure at Naval Air Station Fallon
NAS Fallon's construction followed the same pattern seen across Navy aviation bases built in the World War II era, when asbestos was the default choice for insulating and fireproofing military buildings. That legacy runs through several materials still tied to the installation's hangars, fire stations, and administrative buildings:
- block insulation
- duct adhesive
- calcium silicate
- boiler coating
- castables
- refractory materials
- welding rods
- packing material
Certain Navy ratings put sailors in more frequent contact with these materials than others, especially anyone servicing pipes, boilers, or electrical systems:
- aviation ordnanceman
- electrician's mate
- pipefitter/utilitiesman
- boiler technician/watertender
- machinist's mate/machinery repairman
- structural mechanic
NAS Fallon has operated continuously since World War II and underwent significant Cold War expansion, and personnel maintaining aircraft support facilities, utility systems, and older buildings faced this exposure risk long after asbestos's dangers became widely known. The disease most closely tied to that exposure, along with lung cancer, is mesothelioma, and both can take 20 to 50 years to surface after the original exposure. That delay means a veteran who worked at NAS Fallon decades ago could be facing a diagnosis today with no obvious reason to connect it to their service. If your work included that kind of maintenance and you've since received either diagnosis, contact our team to find out whether you're eligible to file an asbestos claim.