Fire departments are taking more precautions after studies have shown the fight to put out a fire can later become a fight to stay alive. Recently, the Champaign-Urbana community has rallied behind a local firefighter battling cancer. Sadly, it's a story we hear too often. Even though he preferred not to talk about it, the data linking firefighters and cancer speaks for itself. Firefighters face a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of cancer-related deaths, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). “There is absolutely no question that firefighting is a more dangerous profession today than it was 50 years ago,” said Royal Mortenson, director of the Illinois Fire Service Institute.