'First in, last out': Veteran NAS Jacksonville firefighter launches new uniform line

When he was in college, Sean Conant had no particular career goal in mind. Then his father had a massive heart attack and he watched firefighters and paramedics save his life.

"A light bulb went off," he said. "I wanted to be that person."

He wanted to be one of those "ordinary guys thrown into emergency situations," he said, one of those people who perform heroic acts on a daily basis.

Now 41, Conant has been a firefighter about 18 years, currently at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. And last year he launched a new line of comfortable, affordable and fire-resistant uniforms for firefighters to wear at their stations and under their heavy fire-scene gear.

It's all part of his passion for firefighting.

"It means everything. It's not so much a career, more of a calling," Conant said. Founding FILO Apparel — the name of the e-commerce company comes from the firefighter creed, "first in, last out" — was his way to "give back" to his chosen profession and to fellow firefighters, he said.

Conant and longtime friend Dan McLaughlin have been working on the brand since 2018. They consulted with other firefighters, both men and women, to select the right design, material, manufacturer and business model.

The company sells to fire departments and to individual firefighters. Some departments provide uniforms for their crews, while others provide a clothing allowance for firefighters to buy their own. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, for instance, provides uniforms vetted through the department's safety committee, according to Capt. Eric Prosswimmer.

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Conant said his own uniform shopping experiences were frustrating on many levels.

"Our goal is to make dressing for the job easier for firefighters," he said. "My annual uniform stipend barely covered a couple pairs of pants and a shirt and I had to wait a month or more for them to arrive. Then they had to be tailored to fit correctly. I decided our first responders deserve better."

FILO uniforms cost up to 56% less, on average, than conventional firefighter uniform suppliers, according to Conant. The company offers free, direct shipping from the Costa Rica manufacturer, faster delivery times, free inseam tailoring for pants and customizable name tapes and badge holders, he said.

What about controversial PFAS chemicals?

The Nomex brand fiber that FILO uses in its pants, shirts and shorts also is free of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of manmade, hazardous chemicals used to make consumer goods resistant to water, stain and grease.

Exposure to specific PFAS can cause a "variety of health effects, including altered immune and thyroid function, liver disease, lipid and insulin dysregulation, kidney disease, adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes and cancer," according to a National Institutes of Health report.  Also, some PFAS "do not break down in the environment, can build up in living things and can adversely impact human health and the environment," according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Firefighters have enough to worry about on the job, they shouldn’t have to wonder if their uniforms are going to create debilitating health issues," Conant said.

In 2022 the International Association of Fire Fighters and fire chiefs alerted union members that PFAS in firefighter gear poses an unnecessary occupational threat. In 2023 the association announced it hired three law firms "to assist the union in its effort to end firefighter cancer and remove PFAS from use in the fire service," according to the IAFF website.

The firms' assignments were to "change the regulatory standards and systems that have enabled toxins in firefighter protective turnout gear," demand that gear be replaced; and help union members and their families "seek compensation for PFAS-related injuries," according to the website.

Jackie Krych, a firefighter for a municipality in Ohio, is a FILO customer. She happened onto the company during a Google search for PFAS-free uniforms. So far she has purchased three pairs of pants and a shirt.

"I love them," she said.

Krych likened finding a safe uniform with the proper fit and comfort to finding that elusive perfect pair of women's jeans. Many firefighter uniform companies, she said, "have not done a lot of outfitting for women, nothing really fit."

But her FILO outfits are comfortable under heavy firefighting gear, even when she needs to "crawl and climb" at a fire scene, she said.

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Brandon Oropeza works with Conant as an NAS Jacksonville firefighter. He formerly worked in California where his firefighter uniforms were restricted to certain brands. In Florida he had an array of options, he said, and selected FILO.

He's purchased a couple of pairs of pants, shorts and shirts and said he appreciated the variety of sizes, individual tailoring, fitted cargo pockets and durability.

"Honestly, it's the best uniform I've bought thus far," he said.

Conant previously was a firefighter at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Southeast Georgia, the Florida Air National Guard and for the Kingsland, Ga., and Suwannee County fire departments. His experience and the time he and McLaughlin spent researching before launching FILO has paid off.

"To get the best fit and the most comfort, I think we nailed it," he said.

In about 30 days, the company will also launch a coffee brand called FILO Fuel, made from Arabica beans grown on farms in the mountains of Nicaragua. A portion of proceeds will go to Next Rung, a firefighter founded and operated nonprofit that helps combat mental health issues among firefighters and first responders.

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

TO LEARN MORE

For more information go to filoapparel.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: NAS Jacksonville firefighter launches FILO uniform brand