On Monday, the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut (UPFAC) held its annual “FireOps” program.
It is a demonstration, to help lawmakers better understand the dangers firefighters face. Among them – cancer.
UPFAC says firefighters face an elevated risk to certain cancers because of the elements they’re exposed to. They hope events like Monday's draw attention to that and build support for legislation that could provide some protection.
Fire and smoke are the obvious dangers of the firefighting profession, but certainly not the only risks which include exposure to various carcinogens.
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“When we go into a fire, we’re getting exposed to those chemicals at a high rate. Which is causing cancer across the country at a rapid pace,” said UPFAC President Peter Brown.
According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, firefighters face heightened risk for certain cancers. Among them, a rate twice as high for mesothelioma and multiple myeloma. Contributing could be the PFAS chemicals that certified firefighting gear is treated with.
“We put [this gear] on at every alarm, and just opening up the pores in your neck, it absorbs into your skin,” said Middletown firefighter Kevin Starbird.
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Aiming to provide firefighters, who are stricken with cancer, easier access to workers’ compensation is Senate Bill 937, which essentially says it’s assumed the firefighter’s cancer was work-related, unless proven otherwise.
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) agrees firefighters deserve the benefit, but reject the way the bill is structured.
“What the particular bill does is it pushes the cost of these benefits directly into the property tax,” said CCM Executive Director and CEO Joe DeLong.
Instead, Delong would like the money to come from the state’s $3 billion surplus.
“I’m confident we can get something done this session by working together on this. I think we can do it and I think we can do it the right way,” said DeLong.
Meanwhile, firefighters are training and working hard, hoping the legislation passes.
“If we fall off the roof, worker’s compensation covers us, and the cities don’t go bankrupt. But if we get cancer, it’s like we were never firefighters,” said Starbird.
To further push the initiative, some state lawmakers were invited to participate in the firefighting exercises on Monday. Representative Rachel Khanna was among them, further galvanizing her support for the bill.
“They take care of our families, we need to take care of theirs,” said Khanna.
As for the experience, which included entering a controlled burn of a training building, Rep. Corey Paris says it heightened his respect for the profession.
“It was burning hot, and it was very dark,” said Paris. “It was almost like walking into a nightmare.”
