Since WRAL Investigates reported that the greatest on-the-job risk to firefighters is the exposure to carcinogens over the long term, at least three more Raleigh firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer.
A new federal law creates the Firefighter Cancer Registry to help track and study the problem.
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Statistics about firefighter cancer are incomplete and often leave out volunteers and retirees.
"We know cancer in the fire service is a huge issue. We don't know how big," said Raleigh Fire Department Battalion Chief Frankie Hobson.
He welcomes the new federal law that instructs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to compile firefighter cancer data, including demographics, types of cancer, years of service, exposure and more.
"The registry is the first step in the right direction for us to gather the data that we need to support how big this problem is with the cancer in the fire service," he said.
Firefighter Keith Kirton, a kidney cancer survivor, wants mandatory data reporting, not voluntary. He hopes the results push government leaders to establish new benefits like workers compensation for cancer and more health screening.
"Understand that this is not something that's just going to go away," Kirton said. "You have to step up. You have to take action. If we can find it early, we can treat it."
Firefighters expect the data gathered will further validate the link between their careers and their cancer risk.
"What I fear about it most is, it's only just beginning," Hobson said.
What’s being done to protect firefighters
While firefighters wait for lawmakers to provide extra cancer-related benefits, some are already taking steps to protect themselves. Battalion Chief Gregory Bridges, who’s also the Raleigh Fire Department safety officer, instituted these safety measures in firehouses:
- Hoses to vent diesel fumes from fire trucks
- Two sets of gear for each firefighter
- Heavy-duty washing machines for dirty gear
- Dirty gear kept away from living quarters
- Body wipes used immediately after responding to fire
- Showers within an hour of returning from a call
Firefighters across the country are also getting help from North Carolina State University’s groundbreaking College of Textiles. For years, researchers and students created fabrics to fight heat. They’ve now turned their focus to protecting firefighters from the other dangerous elements, including the soot which could lead to cancer.
“Skin is the largest organ in the body, and anywhere where that skin gets contaminated with smoke, soot, it's going to absorb in,” says Dr. Bryan Ormond of the College of Textiles' Protection and Comfort Center. Ormond says his work is about more than protecting firefighters from the next call, “How can we protect them, make sure they're coming back not just at the end of the day, the end of their shift, but also at the end of their careers?”