Fighting fires is a job where your life is on the line – and the dangers don’t stop when the flames are out.
The CDC has a study on its website that says firefighters actually have a higher chance of being diagnosed and dying from cancer than the general U.S. population.
That’s something the Independence Fire Department knows all too well, along with Heather Winship.
Heather is the widow of Captain Rick Winship, who died in March of 2015.
“He was a really good guy. A good father, son and brother. He was a jokester,” said Heather.
Winship was a 26-year veteran of the Independence Fire Department and logged thousands of hours fighting fires.
He found out he had stage 4 cancer and died about six weeks after getting that diagnosis.
His cancer started in his throat, spread throughout his body and eventually Winship had a brain tumor.
Heather believes it was on the job exposures that caused his cancer. She has filed a worker’s compensation claim against the city. Those documents said Winship was repeatedly exposed to a toxic mix of smoke, gas and carcinogens for decades.
“It was the job he loved,” explained Heather.
She continued to tell 41 Action News her husband was healthy and that he did not smoke or drink. But at 53 years old, he left his wife Heather and three kids behind.
“Nowhere else, not in my profession, are you exposed to the toxic stuff that all firefighters are exposed to,” said Heather.
Firefighter and IAFF local 781 union member Chris Fairbank said there are studies coming out every day that link fighting fires to cancer.
That’s one of the reasons IFD has decided to put extra protocols in place with the hope of keeping its crews safe.
“We are washing everything – all the debris off, before we get back in the fire truck,” explained Fairbank.
Firefighters wear their air tank during the fire and after, when they are knocking down hot spots.
“On scene we are using face wipes to wipe soot from the neck, hands, head and arms," said Fairbank.
Then, they go directly back to the station to change out of their gear so it can be washed. They also are showering thoroughly and putting on a clean set of clothes.
Even the culture of being a firefighter is changing.
"It was a measure of a good firefighter to have soot on his face, to have a smoked up or melted helmet. What we've learned is all that has caused cancer over the years,” said Don Rickman, IAFF local 781 treasurer, captain with IFD.
Winship said if she could tell her husband one thing, it would be that she 'loves and misses him.'
“No other family should have to go through this, but they're in the profession of saving lives,” said Heather.
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Belinda Post can be reached at belinda.post@kshb.com.
