VIDEO: Cancer is known as the silent killer and is considered the leading cause of death among firefighters. A new law in Tennessee to help firefighters diagnosed with cancer is headed to the governor’s desk, and Memphis firefighters are eager for it to be signed. The bill would establish a presumption that being a firefighter is not only dangerous, but there is a risk to contracting cancer. "The materials, the smoke, the carcinogens that firefighters come in contact with on a daily basis," said Matt Tomek, of the Memphis Fire Association. “We have thought it for years that cancer was related to the profession." Studies have shown firefighters have a nine percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14 percent higher risk of dying from cancer than the general public.