VIDEO: For firefighters, sometimes the blaze is only half the battle.
"Regardless of who you are on the fire scene you get exposed to chemicals.” Over the past 3 years, Dr. Jeff Burgess, Associate Dean for Research and Professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and Tucson Fire have researched ways to reduce cancer causing particles.
It began back in 2013, when TFD Fire Investigator Tom Quesnel was diagnosed with leukemia he obtained while working. After he passed in 2014, Captain John Gulotta of Tucson Fire reached out to Dr. Burgess for help. The two then obtained a grant via FEMA to begin their research.
The research started with surveying 29 fires within a one year period and over 80 percent of TFD firefighters agreeing to be a part of the three year study.
One that started with the fires and ended with looking to bodily fluids.