Williams Air Force Base was established in 1941 southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, and served as one of the Air Force's premier pilot training installations until its closure in 1993. Over its 52 years of operation, the base trained more than 26,000 pilots and supplied roughly a quarter of the Air Force's pilots each year, while operating aircraft maintenance hangars, fuel storage facilities, housing, and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting services. Decades of construction predating modern asbestos restrictions and dedicated firefighter training areas have made both hazards relevant to those who served or worked there.
Williams Air Force Base maintained an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting program to protect pilot training operations, aircraft, fuel storage facilities, and flight-line infrastructure. Official Air Force and EPA records identify two dedicated Fire Protection Training Areas on the installation, confirming that firefighter training occurred there. Historical documentation describes these areas being used for burning flammable liquids during fire suppression exercises, which later prompted environmental investigations specifically because of this firefighting activity. Training included live-fire exercises, aircraft crash rescue simulations, fuel fire training, foam application exercises, emergency response drills, and fire suppression equipment training.
Firefighters were exposed while mixing foam concentrate, operating hoses during live-fire exercises, extinguishing simulated aircraft fuel fires, testing proportioning systems, cleaning firefighting vehicles and equipment, maintaining foam storage and delivery systems, and taking part in recurring ARFF certification exercises as part of routine readiness training.
Roles at Williams Air Force Base with the greatest likelihood of AFFF exposure include:
- Air Force Fire Protection Specialist
- Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting technician
- firefighter trainee
- fire instructor
- civilian firefighter assigned to the installation
- personnel who maintained firefighting vehicles and foam systems
Because firefighters routinely took part in practical training exercises, many 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 Williams Air Force Base and were later diagnosed with one of these cancers, you may be entitled to compensation.
Williams Air Force Base was largely constructed during the 1940s and expanded throughout the Cold War, when asbestos was routinely built into military facilities for its fire-resistant properties, thermal insulation, durability, and low cost. The base is specifically named among Air Force installations with documented asbestos use, and it was later designated an EPA Superfund site due in part to the extent of contamination found there. Materials historically used at Williams included:
- turbine and generator insulation
- boiler coating
- floor tile mastic
- acoustic ceiling texture
- joint compound
- transite wall panels
- electric boards
- fireproof door cores
- valve packing
The following trades faced the greatest risk while maintaining, repairing, or renovating aging hangars, classrooms, and housing at Williams AFB:
- aircraft mechanic
- flight-line maintenance technician
- power plant operator
- insulation installer
- electrician
- roofer
- civil engineer
- civilian contractor
Two diseases stand out most in connection with this kind of exposure: mesothelioma, which takes root in the lining around the lungs after asbestos fibers are inhaled, and lung cancer, which develops within the lung tissue itself. Given that both can be latent for 20 to 50 years, someone who worked at Williams decades ago might only be facing a diagnosis now. Our team can help you pursue compensation if a lung cancer or mesothelioma diagnosis traces back to your time at Williams Air Force Base.