Cancer coverage vital for wildland firefighters

Imagine it, if you can: Two teams of firefighters are trapped as flames destroy nearly half of the community of Chipewyan Lake, about 130 kms west of Fort McMurray.

Both teams are stuck in the town overnight as the fire encircles them. The way out is blocked. Heavy smoke prevents rescue by helicopter.

These firefighters are united. They share a common purpose, to save as much of the town as they can. They are here because they agreed to put their lives on the line to serve Albertans.

But there is a key difference between them.

One team is wildland firefighters. The other team is municipal firefighters.  

The role of wildland firefighters is to fight fire among the trees. The role of municipal firefighters is to try to save buildings. But they must fight side-by-side when the forest fire comes to town, facing the same dangerous conditions, breathing in the same toxic fumes.

While the trapped wildland firefighters this time weren’t AUPE members, those members face the same risks every time they’re on the front lines. 

“If wildland firefighters get cancer, they cannot apply to the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) and get immediate treatment and benefits that are offered to other firefighters,” says Gault.

Wildland firefighters have to go through a long process of trying to prove where their cancer came from.

“It’s time for the Alberta government to end this discrimination,” says Gault. “Enough of treating them like heroes while they’re on the front lines and zeroes when they get sick.”

The Alberta government claims wildland firefighters do not need the same protection because the smoke from burning wood or fields isn’t as harmful as smoke from burning buildings.  

The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) disagrees, saying the same diseases are associated with wildfire smoke as with urban fire smoke.

According to the IAFF, nearly 90% of firefighter fatality claims are attributed to cancer. 

He adds that firefighters need better respiratory equipment, a call backed by the IAFF, which said in 2023: “We unfortunately bury too many firefighters because of the diseases they acquire.”

Wildland firefighters are exposed to smoke not only when they’re fighting on the front lines, but when they’re resting in their camps. Most stay in tents where they are exposed to heavy smoke that stays close to the ground, so they’re breathing it all day, every day for weeks or more at a time.

Experts agree on the health risks associated with wildfire smoke.

Kerri Johannson, a pulmonary physician from Calgary, says that wildfire smoke is particularly bad because it contains particles from trees, chemicals, building materials and fire retardants.

Paige Lacy, a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta, says wildfire smoke “has higher levels of compounds called PAHs which are (more) damaging to human health than cigarette smoke and so it’s pretty risky to be breathing it for a whole day.”

Health Canada says wildfire smoke can lead to serious conditions including heart attacks, strokes and premature death.

Wildland firefighters also report shortages of other equipment.  

One AUPE member told Gault: “A week into the event of everything going off at once, we were out of hose. The province had deployed all it had and we were looking internationally for hose. … It makes it difficult to put out a fire when you don’t have enough hose.”

That firefighter added: “Everyone is doing the work of two or three or more people in incident command teams because resource requests aren’t being filled. There’s no one left and people in the first wave are timing out.”