AZ Daily Sun
SEDONA, Ariz. — It had been eight months since Travis Powell was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia, a cancer of the blood, when he got a call. The woman on the other end of the line asked him if he was sitting down. After months of waiting, Powell was told that his worker’s compensation benefits claim had been approved.
The largest provider of worker’s compensation insurance in the state had essentially affirmed that Powell’s cancer had indeed been caused by the almost 20 years he has spent fighting fires for the Sedona and Chino Valley fire districts.
His case puts a clear and undeniable face to a growing body of research uncovering the ties between firefighters and heightened cancer risk. An oft-cited 2013 study by the Centers for Disease Control found that firefighters are more likely to develop respiratory, digestive and urinary system cancers and had rates of mesothelioma, cancer that affects organ linings, two times greater than the overall population.
Full story: Cancer risk hits firefighters harder