Tracy Williams got started in the fire service at a young age.
“They asked me if I wanted to be a part of the junior program. Well, I said yeah just something new, getting ready to get out of high school I’ll just try it. From that day on, I’ve been hooked,” he explained.
That was nearly 40 years ago for the current Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal at the Westview-Fairforest Fire Department in Spartanburg County.
“People need help and we’re there to help,” he said. In 2009, Williams became the one who needed help after he was diagnosed with cancer.
“Determined that I had Melanoma stage 3A, which meant it was in a lymph node,” Williams explained.
Research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found firefighters are at a greater risk for certain types of cancers.