Carcinogenic chemicals stored at the Country Fire Authority (CFA) headquarters in regional Victoria in the 1970s and 1980s have been linked to the deaths of nine staff, according to an investigation by the Herald Sun newspaper.
The paper says no one at CFA's Fiskville training base northwest of Melbourne was told of the dangers, despite repeated warnings that they should.
It says at least 17 former workers and family members, including children, who lived at Fiskville 30 years ago have suffered cancers that could be linked to the chemicals at the site.
A former CFA chief officer, Brian Potter, told the paper that he has been battling for 15 years a rare auto-immune disease and multiple cancers, which he says is connected to his time at Fiskville.
The paper said former workers and trainees had suffered diseases including brain, mouth and oesophageal, bladder, kidney and bowel cancer.
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The chemicals, some stored in corroded drums and later buried on the site, included benzene, toluene, xylene and phenol.
A CFA spokesman said it was the first time the fire authority had heard of these allegations and the organisation was checking its records.
