Every day, firefighters are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals from the scorched aftermath of forest fires, the melting pot of kitchen cleaning supplies in burning homes, and abandoned polyurethane appliances and bags in homeless encampment blazes.
Cancer has jumped to the leading cause of death among firefighters; they have a 9% greater risk of being diagnosed with the disease, and a 14% higher risk of dying from it than the general population, according to a study published by the National Institutes of Health on the occupational hazards of firefighting. According to the International Association of Fire Fighters, 66% of line-of-duty firefighter deaths from 2002 to 2019 were caused by cancer.
“The job just puts people in positions that are going to put them at risk; they are going to be exposed to carcinogens,” said Hayward Fire Department Deputy Chief Ryan Hamre. “We can limit it, but we can’t eliminate it.”
Hayward firefighters battle a blaze at an apartment complex on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, in Hayward, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
To combat this endemic threat of cancer, the Hayward Fire Department has partnered with the Redwood City-based biotech company Prenuvo to offer full-body MRI scans to firefighters and identify cancer early on, when effective treatment options have a better chance of eliminating the disease and keeping it in remission.
The inspiration for this early-detection effort was HFD Captain Steve Holt, who died of cancer on Nov. 29, 2017. Holt had worked at the Hayward Fire Department since 1987; he responded to the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 and the Oakland hills fire in 1991, receiving accolades for his work.
“At his daughter’s cheerleading camp, (Holt) passed out, woke up in the hospital, and was diagnosed with lung cancer that spread to his brain and spinal cord,” Hayward Firefighters Union President Andrew Ghali said.
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His death caused Ghali to reexamine preventative care and early cancer detection at the Hayward Fire Department. But he found that many health insurance companies do not offer services to detect cancer without pre-existing conditions, such as a history of smoking or age — and do not make exceptions for firefighters.
“I started calling the American Lung Association because I saw a low-dose CT scan to detect early lung cancer,” Ghali said. “When I went online and filed (for) a test, it had a little quiz that said, ‘How many packs of cigarettes do you smoke a day?’ and, ‘Are you above the age of 50?’ I said ‘No, no,’ and I was denied the opportunity to have one.”
Hayward firefighter Frank Crespo said he was frustrated by health insurance companies that only took care seriously after it was too late.
“It’s kind of more of a ‘sick care’ system than it is true health care,” Crespo said. “Only when you’re sick does this system start to allow payments for workups, for further diagnostics. So we’re kind of stuck in this limbo, knowing that we’re exposed to this stuff chronically, but not sick enough at any point to justify further diagnostics.”
Ghali sought alternative health care options that could identify cancer before it could mature and metastasize in himself and his colleagues. He eventually settled on Prenuvo, he said, because its detailed MRI could detect early signs of cancer, as well as respiratory issues, cardiac disease and thyroid problems.
The Hayward Fire Department signed a $100,000 contract with Prenuvo on Jan. 1, funded through the city of Hayward, to provide head and torso MRI scans.
Hamre and Ghali joined the fire department to defend their community, well aware of the risks associated with a career shrouded in smoke and fire. But their priorities have shifted now with families of their own. They’re more aware of the daily exposure to carcinogens that has taken friends and colleagues away from their families.
“I was 22 when I got hired here, and none of this was on my mind,” Ghali said. “But then, as you start to mature and you get older and you understand the risk, and you have three kids and a wife that depend on you, and you want to see them grow up, and you want to have a long, happy life with your family.”
FILE PHOTO — A Contra Costa County firefighter from Engine 1 attempts to extinguish a car fire on the Treat Blvd. offramp on northbound Interstate 680 in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
