The 80 new firefighters Columbus plans to hire next year could be among the first to really understand the risk of cancer they face on the job. For the 50 city firefighters who are expected to retire in 2018 and thousands of others, it could be too late.
For years, firefighters have shed their masks and other gear after flames were knocked down, not knowing they were breathing carcinogens and exposing their skin to chemicals that could lead to cancer. Today's firefighters are learning more about that risk. "It's a generational effect. We're behind the eight ball from lack of education," said Mark Rine, a terminally ill Columbus firefighter, during a forum Wednesday about the occupational cancer risk firefighters face. "For a long time it's been lack of information. It's a lack of understanding. And what we don't know, we don't fear."