Firefighting is already among the most hazardous professions. But there is a hidden killer proving to be even more dangerous. Cancer rates among fire rescue personnel have skyrocketed in recent years.
A new locally-produced documentary aims to bring awareness to their cause while urging other firefighters to get screened before it’s too late.
The film, called "Dying to Save You," features three local fire captains, including Bill Rini, who spent 35 years on the truck in Phoenix.
“We never worried about the smoke. We never worried about the carcinogens that were soaking into our skin. We never cleaned our stuff. We didn’t – unless we got blood all over it, then we’d clean it.”
Rini wishes he knew then what he knows now.
“Put the AAAF foam, PFAS and all the carcinogens that we get from every house fire soaking into our bodies, there’s your base for every type of cancer that we’re getting.”
He was first diagnosed back in 1999, and has since been three more times. Rini has had his prostate, urethra, rectum and bladder all removed. He uses both colostomy and uroscopy bags and is in constant pain.
“They weren’t able to control the pain. … And I honestly didn’t think … that a human being could suffer that much and still live.”
The film also introduces us to fellow Phoenix fire Capt. Anthony Mock.
“Felt 100% fine. A few days after my scan, I got a call saying that they found something on my imaging. I had cancer in my right kidney as well as my right adrenal gland.”
Only in his 30s with a young family, Mock had his adrenal gland and part of his kidney removed. But the damage had been done.
“Cancer has spread to – it’s throughout both lungs. It’s in my ribcage, indicating bone metastasis. It’s in my colon. Six tumors on my liver; a couple of lymph nodes in my chest.”
The documentary was written, directed and edited by Patrick Gramm, who was commissioned by the firefighters union, Local 493, to shed light on an epidemic among rescue workers.
“(I) sat on a lot of couches in firefighters homes, with their spouses and their kids running around and heard some demolishing stories.”
In a blunt, poignant and graphic way, Gramm wants to bring attention to the underreported aspect of occupational cancers among firefighters.
“I was trying to connect you with these suffering human beings and just the terrible things they’ve had to go through. Just the pain, the worry, the suffering – just being scared.”
Dr. Vershalee Shukla is a radiation oncologist in Scottsdale who has been treating many of those firefighter patients.
“I see two to three a week. And it’s very common for me to walk in to a room with a 30-year-old and say, ‘you have a very bad cancer.’”
Shukla says early detection can make all the difference.
“Picking it up early and diagnosing it early means minimal treatment, so often just surgery, sometimes chemo, sometimes radiation. Picking it up late means surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, clinical trials. And then they still may not live.”
Rini recently retired from the Phoenix Fire Department. Although he lives with persistent pain and discomfort, he’s been declared cancer-free.
Mock was not as lucky. He died at age 39 in January.
“The hardest thing was saying at the end of the film that he had died. So, you meet him in the film. You hear his story in the film. You hear his plea for other firefighters to get their cancer screenings, because Anthony had no symptoms,” Gramm said.
“Anthony was just a regular human being walking around and had no idea he had cancer inside his body.”
Rini says Mock was the reason why he agreed to tell his own story.
“This whole thing could have turned away way differently if he had early detection. He made me realize how important this was, and I didn’t know that guys weren’t getting tested.”
In the film, Mock said that is exactly how he wants to be remembered.
“My number one hope is my journey will inspire somebody to go get checked that otherwise wouldn’t have and their life has a chance to be saved through early detection and treatment.”
According to the CDC, firefighters have a 9% higher risk of a diagnosis than the general population and 14% higher risk of cancer death. Their risks for specific types of cancer, including testicular, mesothelioma and multiple myeloma, is exponentially more.
Data from the International Association of Fire Fighters found that between 2002 and 2019, two-thirds of line-of-duty deaths among firefighters were caused by cancer.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A photo caption was updated to correct where Bill Rini received treatment.
-
Jaime Vinck is the president of the Meadows Behavioral Health here in Phoenix, which offers inpatient and outpatient treatment for people struggling with addiction. She knows many people are scared to admit they need help. -
Maricopa County public health officials say everyone who was at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 4 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Jan. 29 should watch for symptoms of measles through Feb. 19. -
A new lawsuit claims AHCCCS, Arizona’s Medicaid program, could be responsible for upwards of 1,000 children with autism losing access to critical therapy. The attorney who filed suit on behalf of nearly a dozen families is seeking class-action status. -
A bill is advancing in the Arizona Legislature that would require most Arizona hospitals to ask patients whether they are in the country legally. -
A project funded by NASA could help bring emergency medical care to rural Arizona. ASU researchers are developing augmented reality glasses that can help walk users through some procedures in real time — without needing to be online.
