VIDEO: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health performed a multi-year study which found firefighters have a nine percent greater risk at being diagnosed with cancer and a 14 percent risk of a cancer related death. The study was completed in late 2015 and included nearly 30,000 firefighters who were employed at any time between 1950 and 2009. Since then, fire departments across the country have explored ways to combat the deadly disease. The Madison Fire Department has researched sauna-therapy as a way for fire fighters to sweat out the dangerous cancer-causing toxins they absorb when out fighting a fire. “Research has shown that sauna therapy can actually be impactful in leeching those chemicals back out of the skin,” said Chief Steven Davis of the Madison Fire Department.