Silver Bell Army Heliport is an Arizona Army National Guard aviation facility located northwest of Tucson, supporting helicopter operations, aviation maintenance, flight training, and National Guard readiness. Because aviation facilities must maintain aircraft rescue and firefighting capabilities, Silver Bell has long supported firefighter training for aviation fuel emergencies, and maintenance personnel working on its older support buildings may have encountered asbestos-containing materials common in military construction before federal restrictions took hold.
As an Army aviation installation, Silver Bell required firefighters trained to respond to helicopter crashes and aviation fuel fires, and like other military fire departments, its firefighters historically trained with AFFF because it was the standard extinguishing agent for Class B petroleum fires. Official Arizona Army National Guard preliminary assessment records identify historic Fire Training Areas at the installation, confirming that firefighter training took place on site. Training exercises included live-fire drills, helicopter crash rescue drills, aviation fuel fire simulations, foam application exercises, fire suppression equipment training, and emergency response drills.
Firefighters at Silver Bell were exposed while mixing foam concentrate, operating hoses during live-fire exercises, extinguishing simulated helicopter fuel fires, testing proportioning systems, cleaning firefighting apparatus, servicing foam storage and delivery equipment, and taking part in recurring ARFF certification exercises throughout their service.
Roles at Silver Bell with the greatest likelihood of AFFF exposure include:
- Army Fire Protection Specialist
- Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting technician
- firefighter trainee
- fire instructor
- Arizona Army National Guard firefighter
- personnel who maintained firefighting vehicles and foam systems
Because these firefighters routinely took part in hands-on training, some repeatedly handled AFFF over the course of their careers. Studies have linked PFAS chemicals in legacy AFFF to kidney cancer and testicular cancer among firefighters with this kind of repeated exposure. If you trained or served as a firefighter at Silver Bell and were later diagnosed with one of these cancers, you may be entitled to compensation.
Although Silver Bell is a relatively small installation, military buildings constructed before the 1980s commonly incorporated asbestos for its fire resistance, thermal insulation, durability, and low cost. Asbestos fibers could become airborne whenever these materials were cut, drilled, repaired, or removed. Materials that historically contained asbestos at aviation support facilities like Silver Bell included:
- hangar roofing panels
- turbine and generator insulation
- floor tile mastic
- window glazing compound
- transite siding
- electrical conduit wrap
- valve packing
- fireproof door cores
The following trades faced the greatest risk of disturbing these materials while maintaining or renovating older buildings on the heliport:
- aviation maintenance technician
- powerplant mechanic
- sheet metal worker
- insulation installer
- roofer
- electrician
- National Guard facilities technician
- civilian contractor
Mesothelioma and lung cancer are the two conditions most closely tied to this kind of exposure. Mesothelioma develops in the lining surrounding the lungs, and nearly all occupational cases trace back to inhaling asbestos fibers, while lung cancer forms directly in the lung tissue after repeated exposure. Both conditions typically take 20 to 50 years to appear, which means many veterans are only diagnosed decades after leaving military service. If asbestos exposure at Silver Bell Army Heliport led to your lung cancer or mesothelioma diagnosis, our team can help you with the claim process.