Research indicates fire isn’t the greatest health risk to firefighters

This is the first of a two-part series.

At a vehicle fire recently, Vicksburg Daily News Publisher David Day turned to me and asked why the firefighters were hosing each other from head to toe including the bottoms of their boots.

The question led me to bring Warren County Fire Coordinator Gerald “Gerry” Briggs into the conversation. Briggs provided me with a great deal of information on the subject.

If I asked you what the greatest danger to firefighters is, most would probably say the fire itself, heat exhaustion, or heart and pulmonary issues. My father was a career Vicksburg firefighter. He often said it was one of the most dangerous and least-appreciated professions on earth.

What if I told you the greatest danger to the men and women who choose to run into harm’s way when others are running from it isn’t fire; it’s cancer?

Since 2016, cancer has surpassed all other issues as the No. 1 debilitating factor and killer of our nation’s firefighters. Briggs teaches a course on the subject to county firefighters as part of their continuing education.

From the diesel fumes from the fire trucks to the various carcinogens contained in building materials, right down to the foam used to extinguish fires, experts believe multiple exposures to these hazards contribute to various forms of cancer.

Numerous Warren County firefighters have battled cancer in recent years. Kelly Worthy, Briggs’ predecessor as county fire coordinator, has battled the disease. Byron Cunningham was a career Vicksburg firefighter with the Culkin Fire Department and an instructor at the State Fire Academy. He is also a cancer survivor. Shane Greene started as a member of the Northeast Fire Department before moving to the Culkin district. Greene is valiantly battling the disease—and still fights fires when his health allows.

While no one can say with 100 percent certainty that their service to our community gave them cancer, many indicators say firefighting itself is a major contributing factor.

Heart disease was once the No. 1 cause of firefighter death, with accidents involving the fire apparatus (trucks, pumpers, etc.) being second. That’s no longer true. From 2002 to 2016, 61 percent of firefighter deaths were caused by cancer, according to the International Association of Firefighters. Heart disease accounted for 18 percent of deaths for the same time period.

Firefighters have a 9 percent higher risk of being diagnosed and a 14 percent higher chance of death from cancer than the general population, reports the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Fortunately, our local agencies are passionately committed to educating firefighters and providing every possible means to protect our first responders. In the next installment, we will hear more from Briggs and Vicksburg Fire Chief Craig Danczck on what they are doing to combat this issue.