SPRINGFIELD — Chicopee Fire Chief Dan Stamborski had the pleasure of working alongside his father when they were both on the force. He then endured the heartache of watching his dad die because of his time on the force.
Robert Stamborski served as an EMT and firefighter for 28 years. Eight years after he retired, he died of bladder cancer, believed to have been caused by breathing diesel fumes pumped into the firehouse by ambulances and trucks.
“There was nothing to protect these brave firefighters in my father’s era,” Stamborski told The Republican and MassLive. “Diesel particulates were coming out of the apparatus on a daily basis — starting the trucks, backing them in, pulling them out while you’re doing chores around the station. They didn’t have the climate vent systems that we do now.”
Firefighters can get this kind of bad health news after long careers.
Jon Sawyer, 59, formerly of South Hadley, was a firefighter at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee before landing the deputy chief’s job in Yarmouth. He’s planning to retire in March, so he went to his doctor for a pre-retirement check-up.
Testing identified two lumps on his back as melanoma. Sawyer was exposed to burning chemicals and other cancer-causing materials during his firefighting career. Doctors said that likely caused the cancer.
“After 41 years, there’s a lot of chemical exposure, a lot of exposure to everything,” he said in an interview. “I’m thinking, ‘Is this it? I’m going to retire and how much time am I going to have,?’”
If firefighters had been routinely screened for cancer decades ago, doctors might have found Robert Stamborski’s cancer in time to save him. Early screening and minor surgery did save Sawyer’s life.
Because firefighters are more likely to be screened now, doctors are finding a wide range of cancers including testicular, brain, breast and prostate cancer, along with leukemia and mesothelioma.
The state Department of Fire Services has become much more aggressive about screening at fire stations, hospitals and other facilities. Mercy Medical Center in Springfield has received an $81,000 grant to conduct a screening program. First responders who are at least 40 years old and have been firefighters for at least 10 years are eligible for the free tests.
“Many cancers don’t show signs or symptoms until they’re in advanced stages,” said Ashley LeBlanc, nursing director of the lung cancer screening program at Mercy. “This is an opportunity for us to identify cancer in those earlier stages and give people an opportunity to retire from their chosen career, walk their daughter down the aisle or hold their first grandbaby.”
“It is heartbreaking to deliver the news somebody comes back positive for cancer, but the primary goal is to find cancer in that earlier, more treatable stage when we can affect the outcome for these people,” she said.
Cancer’s threat
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality among firefighters, causing 66% of deaths in the line of duty from 2002 to 2019, according to data from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). Cancer caused 70% of line-of-duty deaths for career firefighters in 2016.
Firefighters have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population, according to research by the CDC/National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH).
Even though firefighters are diagnosed with cancer at a much younger age than the general public, there are no regulations or standards in place to get them tested for cancer earlier than civilian populations.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force works to improve public health nationwide by recommending screenings, counseling and preventive medications, it says on its website.
According to LeBlanc, the task force hasn’t called for firefighters to be screened any sooner than the general population because there is not enough evidence to issue such a recommendation. That’s why early-intervention screenings like the work being done at Mercy are critical.
“There’s not a huge amount of study, certainly not on a large scale, that has been substantial enough to have the [task force] review and make recommendations for screenings of these high risk careers,” said LeBlanc.
“It’s important that there are places like Mercy doing this. We’re trying to make a difference in our community,” said LeBlanc. “It’s when we all come together as a community, healthcare professionals, firefighters and lawmakers [that] we can make a difference to impact legislation and studies.”
Protective gear
Firefighters do have more protection from toxic gas, particles and debris than ever before. Special devices purify the air they breathe. Helmets and hoods keep chemicals and debris from landing on their skin and being absorbed into their bodies. Many firetrucks are now equipped with filters on their tailpipes to keep diesel fumes and particulates from being blown into fire houses.
But even with those precautions, first responders don’t always consider their own safety first.
“The gear is extremely heavy, it’s very hot so you’re sweating. When you come out of the structure to take a break or change your air bottle, sometimes you take the gear off for a couple minutes, cool down, get your blood pressure lowered a little bit and then go back in for another attack,” said Stamborski.
Many firefighters are equipped with two coats — the theory being one is always clean and dry so the first responders aren’t wearing contaminated gear. But there’s not always time between fires to wash and dry those coats, so contaminated garb may be worn to the next blaze.
There is also a culture in some departments that rewards firefighters for wearing dirty clothes and mocks those who don’t.
“The sign you are a tough or experienced firefighter was to have dirty gear. It was like a badge of honor,” said Sawyer, the Yarmouth deputy chief. “If I were to get brand new gear, the guys would make fun of me. That badge of having dirty gear was like pride in the fire service. But we are getting away from that today.”
Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard Calvi said there are no shortcuts to safety for the city’s 270 firefighters. “It’s so important that firefighters wear their protective equipment and make sure their masks are on while there are products of combustion in the atmosphere. We have rules and regulations, policies and procedures,” he said.
“Safety is everybody’s job, so everybody is always looking out for each other and making sure the appropriate protective gear is in place for what’s going on,” he said.
Firefighters who meet the qualifications and want to be screened at Mercy Medical Center must submit applications through the Department of Fire Services at: https://hraccess-us.technomedia.com/mfa.
Anyone deemed eligible should call Mercy’s Fire Fighter Cancer Screening Program to schedule an appointment at (413) 748-9608.
