Where There’s Smoke...

"Inexcusable!" Do you want to get cancer?

     I had the great privilege of teaching a class on cancer awareness in the fire service at the Nebraska State Fire School in Grand Island in May along with fellow NVFC board member David Bullard from Georgia. It was fun team teaching with David on a topic that is such a serious one for firefighters.

     We know that about 100 firefighters each year die in the line of duty across America, but we hear reports that this number might be several hundred higher if we factor in cancer deaths. That number is staggering. When my father started in the fire service over 50 years ago the fires they fought often involved wood or paper products.

     Today our fires predominantly involve some type of plastic. Look around your office, your home, your car, your fire station; the majority of the items you see have some type of plastic - even this computer I am typing on

      When plastics heat and when they burn, they off gas a toxic soup of chemicals.

     Our firefighters that think they are macho and can breathe the stuff from a fire, are kidding themselves.

     How many times, when I do the Fire News column in this paper, have I seen pictures of firefighters, and, yes, even chief officers, leaning their head in a vehicle that is still smoking. How many times has a picture been printed in the local newspaper where firefighters are standing in the smoke of a house fire with absolutely no SCBA - and sometimes not even any fire gear.

     INEXCUSABLE.

     Perhaps I am too harsh on you. Maybe you really do want to get cancer. If that was your choice, then by all means, keep going to fires without bunkering up and wearing your SCBA. If Cancer is your choice, then don’t ever wash your gear. If Cancer is what you desire then don’t ever clean the SCBA, or your hood, or your boots

      And because your family likes to share, by all means store the gear in the back seat of the family auto next to the child seat. Oh and don’t just keep it in the family, when you have kids to the station for tours and when you go to the school for fire prevention, take the dirty gear with you - that way you can share this disease.                

     Of course I’m being snide - but only to get your attention

     We know that firefighters are over twice as likely to get certain types of cancers than what the general public will get. Why do you suppose that is? Statistics don’t lie - we know it to be a fact that we’re doing something wrong or we wouldn’t be seeing these cancers.

     It’s a serious subject folks. The National Volunteer Fire Council has just printed posters with 11 suggested best practices to try and defeat fire service cancer. If you want one, let me know.      

     We are going to win this battle.

     Firefighters lives depend upon it and more importantly our firefighters families do not need to deal with this trauma.    If you’re reading this and are a firefighter, then step up to the plate and get your department on board with taking aggressive action to do everything possible to stop firefighter cancer. 

     If you are a firefighter’s family member, then nag them to death - better to be nagged to death than to die of cancer, because where there’s smoke......

     PS: On June 21st Kristi Brown of Parsons passed away at age 45.  Kristi’s husband, Craig Brown, died in the line of duty on Nov. 24, 1998. Please keep the Brown family in your prayers at this most difficult time.

Blaze Publications, Inc.

Jeff Gargano - Editor
P.O. Box 122
Humboldt, IA 50548
jeff@blazepublicationsinc.com

News and Advertising: News and advertising deadlines are the 15th of each month for the next month's issue.

 

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