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Published: Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Firefighter Jim Burneka. Photo credit: Jim Burneka
Jim Burneka at the International Association of Fire Fighters annual memorial for those who have died from the job, including of cancer. Burneka
He knew it was coming.
Having spent half of his 20-year career educating other firefighters about how to protect themselves from toxic smoke on the job, Jim Burneka wasn t surprised to hear he had thyroid cancer last month. I ve known for a while that it wasn t a matter of if, but when, he said. I know I ve been a ticking time bomb.
The chemical cocktail inhaled or absorbed into skin while battling blazes gives the nation s roughly 400,000 career firefighters a 9% greater chance of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% greater chance of dying from it than the general population, making cancer the top cause of line-of-duty death in the fire service.
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