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When the filing window for lawsuits seeking compensation for cancers and other illnesses linked to exposure to toxic aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) closed on Sept. 5, 2025, it did so with little notice to the firefighters it was meant to protect, including those in Wisconsin.

Fewer than 13,000 claims were filed nationwide, a small fraction of the more than 1 million firefighters in the United States. This gap has raised questions about awareness of the filing process and access to legal information among potentially affected individuals.

Firefighters in smaller and volunteer departments may have faced additional barriers to learning about filing deadlines. In many of these departments, limited administrative resources, part-time staffing and reduced access to legal outreach may have limited the reach of information about filing deadlines to some personnel.

This is a story about who did not file a lawsuit and why many firefighters may have been left behind while companies that profited from toxic products continue to avoid full accountability.

Toxic foam, local consequences

For decades, AFFF has been widely used by fire departments, industrial sites and military facilities because of its ability to rapidly suppress fuel-based fires. The foam’s effectiveness comes from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of toxic chemicals known for their serious health risks.

Often called “forever chemicals,” PFAS persist in the environment and build up in the human body. Studies have linked PFAS exposure to kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid disease, immune dysfunction, and other long-term illnesses. Firefighters show higher PFAS levels in their blood than the general population from routine AFFF use and wearing PFAS-contaminated turnout gear meant to protect them.

PFAS contamination is widespread in Wisconsin. Elevated levels of these toxic chemicals have been found in the state’s drinking water, resulting from firefighting foam used at military installations and airports. While the contamination threatened the public through the water supply, it also exposed the risks firefighters faced from regularly using the foam.

A broken notification system

Wisconsin is home to 809 fire departments and roughly 25,000 firefighters. Nearly 80% of those departments rely on volunteer personnel. Many of those firefighters may have been exposed to AFFF during their service, yet the exact number of Wisconsin firefighters who filed claims before the Sept. 5 deadline is not available in consolidated public data. Nationwide, fewer than 13,000 claims were submitted in total, a figure that suggests vast numbers of potentially affected firefighters never filed at all.

Volunteer departments may have faced particular barriers. Many operate with limited administrative resources and part-time staffing, leaving little capacity to track litigation deadlines alongside the demands of active firefighting. Without dedicated staff tracking occupational health developments, information about the filing window may never have reached the people who needed it.

There was also no centralized system to notify retirees or firefighters who had already left service due to illness, the population arguably most in need of compensation. Without a mechanism to track AFFF claims at the local level, many firefighters likely had no way of knowing the window existed at all.

Removing barriers to ensure fair compensation

Firefighters who missed the filing window now face a much harder path to compensation.

Claims may still be filed, but only with causation reports directly linking their illness to PFAS exposure. These reports may cost thousands of dollars in expert fees to obtain, creating heavy burdens for firefighters already battling illness.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., introduced the Firefighter PFAS Injury Compensation Act in 2024, but it stalled in committee without a vote. 

Similar legislation should be reintroduced. Such a bill would establish a no‑fault compensation system that presumes PFAS‑related illnesses were caused by PFAS exposure during firefighting activities, allowing eligible firefighters to receive compensation without having to prove causation in the traditional legal sense. Compensation would be tied to the illness and length of service, with determinations required within 120 days of filing.

Beyond legislation, agencies must also mandate outreach programs and unified notification systems for future compensation programs. Such measures would ensure firefighters are not excluded from relief due to broken outreach systems.

For firefighters in Wisconsin and across the nation, these reforms could change lives.

Honoring their sacrifice means delivering on these reforms. We must go beyond symbolic gestures to concrete actions that truly support firefighters both during and after their service. The AFFF filing window revealed a systemic failure. What matters now is whether we choose to learn from it.

Jordan Cade is an attorney with the Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., based in Birmingham, Alabama, where he represents firefighters and their families affected by exposure to PFAS and other toxic chemicals.

Guest opinion: Many Wisconsin firefighters missed a chance at toxic foam compensation. Here’s how to fix that. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The manufacturer of a firefighting foam that contaminated the water supply in northeastern Wisconsin with PFAS chemicals for decades agreed to a $10 million settlement with the state, the governor and attorney general announced on Thursday.

The settlement comes as residents, communities, regulators and environmental activists across the country are struggling with how to address contamination from PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers hailed the settlement with Tyco Fire Products as a “historic and important milestone” in the fight for clean water. The lawsuit filed in 2022 alleged that Tyco, a subsidiary of Johnson Controls, had contaminated the area around a firefighting training center since the 1960s and did not do enough to address it.

“Today’s a key step toward making sure polluters are held accountable, take responsibility for their actions, and ensure Wisconsinites don’t have to foot the bill for cleaning up the messes that others made,” Evers said in a statement announcing the deal.

But residents of the affected city of Marinette were hoping for more.

“The word of the day is underwhelming from our perspective,” said Doug Oitzinger, a former mayor of Marinette and current president of the advocacy group Save Our Water. “The dollar amount disappointed us. Ten million is kind of a drop in the bucket.”

Tyco ended outdoor training sessions with the foam containing PFAS chemicals in 2017. Also that year, the company first started providing bottled water and water purification systems to affected residents. The company says it has spent more than $100 million addressing the contamination.

Tyco said in a statement Thursday that it was pleased to have reached the deal, saying it “reflects the extensive work Tyco has undertaken” to address PFAS pollution.

“We’ve been part of the Marinette community for over 100 years and the spirit of doing what is best for our neighbors and the environment will continue to be our priority,” the company said.

PFAS are often referred to as forever chemicals because they resist breaking down, whether in well water or the environment. In the human body, they accumulate in the liver, kidneys and blood. Research has linked them to an increased risk of certain cancers and developmental delays in children.

The chemicals were developed as coatings to protect consumer goods from stains, water and corrosion. Nonstick cookware, carpets, outdoor gear and food packaging are among items that contain the chemicals. They also are an ingredient in firefighting foams.

Government estimates suggest that up to half of all U.S. households have some level of PFAS in their water — whether it comes from a private well or a tap. It is a widespread problem in Wisconsin and spawned numerous lawsuits.

Under the terms of the settlement announced Thursday, Wisconsin will put the $10 million from Tyco into a trust fund earmarked for PFAS cleanup. Tyco also agreed to continue to provide for replacement wells to provide clean drinking water to affected residents, conduct required monitoring and reporting, and implement further measures for the long-term remediation of the area.

The lawsuit, filed by Democratic Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, alleged that the company violated state law when it failed to notify regulators about a PFAS discharge and did not investigate or remediate the contamination around the Fire Technology Center in Marinette, a city of about 11,000 people that borders Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Tyco officials said at the time the lawsuit was filed that the company has invested “considerable resources” on investigating and remediating PFAS pollution from the Marinette firefighting training facility, including offering bottled water and in-home filtration systems to affected residents as well as building a groundwater pollution extraction system.

A second lawsuit filed by the state against Tyco and more than a dozen other companies over PFAS contamination in Wisconsin remains active.

The settlement announced Thursday will take effect if it’s approved by the judge overseeing the case.

Oitzinger, the former Marinette mayor, said Tyco was getting off too easy.

“Legally you may have gotten off of some hooks, but morally you’re not there,” he said. “You’re not there by a long shot.”

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.

Tyco agrees to $10 million settlement with Wisconsin over PFAS water contamination is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.