FITCHBURG — Fighting fires is a dangerous job, plain and simple. While heart attacks, various traumas, and motor vehicle collisions are typically seen as the biggest threats to firefighters, new studies have shown that cancer rates among first responders are sharply on the rise.
“Cancer is going to get our firefighters if we don’t make a change,” said Fitchburg Fire Capt. Patrick Roy, who lost his father to occupational cancer seven years ago.
Roy has since made it his mission to spread the word about early detection and prevention to local fire departments — an effort that landed him the Norman Knight Award For Excellence In Community Service.
“It was an honor,” said Roy, who accepted the award during the 30th annual Firefighter of the Year Awards at Mechanics Hall on Nov. 26. “Because of my father and him dying in the line of duty from cancer, I just put my heart and soul into getting the word out there.”
According to Roy, the materials used to build modern buildings is made with toxic chemicals that are then burning and entering the lungs and settling on the skin of firefighters.
Years of exposure to toxic chemicals have put firefighters at a higher risk of cancer, and Roy wants to change that.
“It is an epidemic in the fire services,” he said. “Roughly 65% of our line of duty deaths right now are from occupational cancer since 2002.”
That included Roy’s father James, who was diagnosed with skin cancer and died in 2012.
Roy described his father as an aggressive, old-school firefighter. He said people weren’t aware of the the invisible hazards when they were rushing in to stop a fire back then.
“I wish that he detected it earlier,” he said, recalling seeing a lump on his father’s neck four months before his death.
His father’s partner was also killed by cancer not long after, he said.
“I don’t want anybody to go through what my family went through with my father and just watching him fade away,” said Roy. “I hope we can get the word out there so no other firefighter families have to go through it.”
Roy currently works with the Massachusetts Fire Academy to teach firefighters how to help themselves with early detection and he teamed up with a local group 1540 Connection to provide free education programs for first responders.
“We’ve put together one of the most comprehensive classes to deal with firefighter occupational cancer, I think, in the country,” said Roy. “We want to get the word out all over the country if we can.”
Roy said early detection the key to stopping the epidemic.
“The earlier you detect it, the survival rates are better and the sooner they’re back on the job,” he said.
The other important factor, prevention, starts with limiting the exposure to hazardous materials and chemicals left on equipment.
Fitchburg was a recipient of a $235,000 state grant to purchase a new set of turnout gear for every firefighter in the department.
“One of the biggest things is a second set of turnout gear,” said Roy. “When we come back from these fires and our gear is all contaminated with these deadly carcinogens, we can put that set of gear out of service, wash it, dry it, and put the clean set in service.”
Roy said the grant was important to the department because it puts an emphasis on firefighter safety. While each set of gear costs about $3,200 each, he said the safety of the crew members always outweighs the price tag.
Moving forward, Roy wants to work with local hospitals to get firefighters scans which detect cancer in the earliest stages. He said the costs of testings is often too much for families to afford and something needs to be done.
“Although it might seem like a lot of money up front, it’s going to cost much less than having a firefighter sick down the road,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re definitely making strides.”
Roy has been a part of the Fitchburg Fire Department for the last 14 years, and he comes from a long line of family members who’ve worked there.
He currently works alongside his uncle, Fire Chief Kevin Roy, his brother and his two cousins.
