Upsetting News About Firefighters And Cancer

[Sam]

This morning (February 10) channel 12 in Richmond had a teaser about firefighters getting cancer from encountering substances in their profession. The report will be at 11 PM tonight.

 

What is upsetting is 1) we need professional firefighters and 2) firefighters wear protective clothing and have breathing apparatus to protect them so how can the get cancer?

 

I hope I don't miss this report as it is very upsetting and I would like to hear the details.

 

Will let everyone know what NBC12 reports and you all can make up your own minds.

 

Anyone out there heard about this problem?

[Chief 2]

I can tell you first hand after working in the fire service for over 25 years that even though todays protective gear is the best $$ can buy, FF's still get subjected to the toxins that are in the air during fire fighting operations. I would come home from having fought a fire at work and up to three days later I would get a smell of smoke from my hair everytime I would take a shower. The turnout gear we wore was not an encapsulated suit and you would get subjected to the toxins in the fire. A study was done a number of years ago that found FF's life expectancy was 10 years less than the average worker. Most FF's don't wash their protective gear after each fire and the toxins from the last fire will remain in the gear for a long, long time. What use to make me crazy is when I would see a guy put his gear in the back seat of his car many times next to a babys seat when he was transfering stations. Many FF's are now being told after having health issues that they have Auto Immune Disease. I guess they classify what ever they can't figure out into that category. Fire fighting is hard on the body. I'm 61 and starting to find that out.

[Matthew2000]

This morning (February 10) channel 12 in Richmond had a teaser about firefighters getting cancer from encountering substances in their profession. The report will be at 11 PM tonight.

 

What is upsetting is 1) we need professional firefighters and 2) firefighters wear protective clothing and have breathing apparatus to protect them so how can the get cancer?

 

I hope I don't miss this report as it is very upsetting and I would like to hear the details.

 

Will let everyone know what NBC12 reports and you all can make up your own minds.

 

Anyone out there heard about this problem?

My grandfather has had 5 back surigies as a result of being a firefighter for 30+ years. Some days he can barley walk firefighters go through quite a bit with little credit.

[buzzed bait]

This morning (February 10) channel 12 in Richmond had a teaser about firefighters getting cancer from encountering substances in their profession. The report will be at 11 PM tonight.

 

What is upsetting is 1) we need professional firefighters and 2) firefighters wear protective clothing and have breathing apparatus to protect them so how can the get cancer?

 

I hope I don't miss this report as it is very upsetting and I would like to hear the details.

 

Will let everyone know what NBC12 reports and you all can make up your own minds.

 

Anyone out there heard about this problem?

have you been under a rock since 9/11/01?  get off the local news website and go read up on the responders to the twin towers and how many have contracted cancer and ultimately died.  this is nothing new.

[F14A-B]

Yup, what buzzed said is a strong case study, there is also a strong case study in California.

I'm not surprised, however I'm a little surprised that folks could think burning is the main hazard,

Collapsing buildings, etc.. Lots of serious hazards in many, many professional category's.

[Redlinerobert]

I had no idea this was an issue, but it absolutely makes perfect sense.  We have a couple hundred firefighters as clients at the tax firm.  I'm going to ask a couple of them about it.

 

Buzzed bait, did you leave your manners in the barn?  Not all of us knew the facts about this, including myself.  I consider myself to be relatively intelligent (although some may have their doubts about this).  No need to chastise anyone over making a good contribution to this site. 

[buzzed bait]

I had no idea this was an issue, but it absolutely makes perfect sense.  We have a couple hundred firefighters as clients at the tax firm.  I'm going to ask a couple of them about it.

 

Buzzed bait, did you leave your manners in the barn?  Not all of us knew the facts about this, including myself.  I consider myself to be relatively intelligent (although some may have their doubts about this).  No need to chastise anyone over making a good contribution to this site. 

 

although i did not learn my manners in a barn, i may not have displayed them appropriately above either. 

i wasn't chastising anyone, but was certainly pointing at that this "current event" is not very current at all.  this has been going for over a decade and has been covered by every major news outlet, with data available to back up the claims.

[Sam]

Thanks, Redline. Appreciate your input.

[Redlinerobert]

Sam,

 

looking forward to hearing what they have to say. 

 

Buzzed bait,

 

No harm, no foul.  Carry on. 

[buzzed bait]

no worries... i'm a tin hat conspiracy nut (by most people's account i think) so i may read into it a little more than others... but the facts are the facts on this one.  those firemen at ground zero are catching cancer at a rate 19% above their colleagues throughout the country.  that's saying something.  now whether it was the sheer amount of dust or what from that day and the many days after, who knows, but something to be said there i believe.  moreover, they've been left to deal with it on their own and are not receiving any of the $4.5 billion in insurance money that was paid out to the owner of the buildings.  

Ultimately the dangers of fighting fires are exactly that, dangerous.  A closer eye should be kept on the chemicals/processes used in the manufacturing of materials (building supplies) to ensure that while under fire or demolition, harmful cancer-causing contaminants are not released.

[Sam]

The TV report outlined the problem with firefighters have higher rates of brain, skin, prostate and testicular cancers plus leukemia as compared to the rest of the population and the rate is on the increase.

 

Seems the breathing apparatus has been improved but as buzzed bait penned it is the toxic elements in the burning materials that is thought to be the cause.

 

A 2006 study was the last to highlight the situation.

 

Workers' Compensation insurance "should" take care of the medical bills based on different time sequences (5 years in Virginia) but sometimes insurance carriers, self-insured pools and individual self-insured programs do not fully cooperate.

 

A number of states have "Heart and Lung" laws to help firemen and law enforcement personnel from injuries arising out of their occupations.

 

However, this does not address the root cause and so far nothing is being done to help curb toxic chemicals being given off during a fire or pollution event.

[buzzed bait]

The TV report outlined the problem with firefighters have higher rates of brain, skin, prostate and testicular cancers plus leukemia as compared to the rest of the population and the rate is on the increase.

 

Seems the breathing apparatus has been improved but as buzzed bait penned it is the toxic elements in the burning materials that is thought to be the cause.

 

A 2006 study was the last to highlight the situation.

 

Workers' Compensation insurance "should" take care of the medical bills based on different time sequences (5 years in Virginia) but sometimes insurance carriers, self-insured pools and individual self-insured programs do not fully cooperate.

 

A number of states have "Heart and Lung" laws to help firemen and law enforcement personnel from injuries arising out of their occupations.

 

However, this does not address the root cause and so far nothing is being done to help curb toxic chemicals being given off during a fire or pollution event.

 

one of those topics i hate to be right about.....  worst part of it all being the lack of compensation for these guys after the fact.  much like LEO, armed forces, hazmat workers, bomb squads, etc., we should be doing everything to prevent the dangers, but when they exist, doing everything to serve them as they've served us.....

[ColdSVT]

The bottom line is cancer doesnt care what you do or who you are

Firefighters, welders, electricians, and the like are at higher risk for lung cancer than most other professions

[gardnerjigman]

The bottom line is cancer doesnt care what you do or who you are

Firefighters, welders, electricians, and the like are at higher risk for lung cancer than most other professions

Perfect point. It's a terrible thing, but the facts are the facts. The hazards come with the job. I went to school for welding and did that for several years before I got married and settled down. Not that I'm still not in a hazardous job.

We all know what we sign on for, and believe me... Firefighters know that they risk their body's and lifelong health, as well of their lives, long before they sign up.

I agree, something needs to be done, but what? This isn't something that will be solved in our lifetime. And if you solve one, you have the domino effect on other hazardous jobs.

Very sad and complicated issue in short.

[Sam]

Don't forget coal miners.

 

We need the coal badly and they risk their lives for us ever day in dangerous working conditions.

[Dwight Hottle]

Don't forget coal miners.

 

We need the coal badly and they risk their lives for us ever day in dangerous working conditions.

 

I'm not so sure that we need the coal badly as a fuel source. It is a dirty fuel period. We have enough natural gas to replace coal as a fuel source for a long, long time.

[Sam]

Dwight, you are totally correct.

 

But since we are not developing natural gas that leaves us with coal.

 

Maybe one day in the future we can all enjoy natural gas in our homes and businesses.

[tomustang]

I'm not so sure that we need the coal badly as a fuel source. It is a dirty fuel period. We have enough natural gas to replace coal as a fuel source for a long, long time.

I remember when I was a kid I use to see coal trains pass by every day several times a day, now it's like once a week.

Though it's not as much as it use to be, coal is still around 40% of our powerplant fuel source. The EPA keeps reducing that number though..

[Sam]

A lady who cleans houses told my wife's friend that she cleaned the Massey's mansion (Massey Coal Company) and one day asked the lady of the house if she minded that the railroad tracks were between the house and the river.

 

Mrs. Massey replied, "No way. I just sit here and watch those coal cars head to Richmond. Its money for us."

[F14A-B]

My Great grand daddy worked mines, my great grandmother died in her cabin on Black Mountain in 72, my granddad work mines for 8 years then moved to Harlan, Ky. Where my father was born.

My Dad was 8 when they left Harlan for Ind. due to massive Violence as it applied to moon shiners & the Federal Excise Men.. It was pretty cut and dried.. If someone showed up, they knew who was from those areas & who wasn't.