Firefighter Cancer Support
Why we built a cancer fund
Fire is no longer what kills most firefighters. Cancer is. Modern building materials burn into something far more toxic than wood ever did, and a career of that exposure accumulates.
We can't do anything about the exposure. What we can do is carry a Stamford firefighter's family through the months between a diagnosis and the point where insurance and benefits catch up. That window is where this fund is aimed, and the research below is why we built it.
The Evidence
Which cancers, and how much more
The chart below shows how much more likely firefighters are to be diagnosed with each cancer than the general U.S. population. A bar reaching 1.0× would mean no elevated risk at all.
Melanoma is published as a range; the bar is drawn at the low end, 1.31×. Figures from LeMasters et al. (2006), a meta-analysis of 32 studies.
Every figure, including mortality
Diagnosis risk and death risk are different measurements from different studies. Mixing them into one number would be wrong, so here they are separately.
| Cancer | Higher diagnosis risk | Higher death risk | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testicular | 102% | Not reported | LeMasters 2006 |
| Esophageal | 62% | 39% | LeMasters 2006 |
| Multiple myeloma | 53% | Not reported | LeMasters 2006 |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 51% | Not reported | LeMasters 2006 |
| Skin cancer (melanoma) | 31–39% | 58% | LeMasters 2006; ACS CPS-II 2025 |
| Prostate | 28% | Not reported | LeMasters 2006 |
| Kidney | Not reported | 40% | ACS CPS-II 2025 |
| Malignant mesothelioma | 2.29× rate | Not reported | Daniels 2014 (NIOSH cohort) |
| All cancers combined | 9% | 14% | Daniels 2014 (NIOSH cohort) |
What these numbers don't say
The percentages come from different studies of different firefighter populations, in different decades. Some describe the risk of being diagnosed and others the risk of dying. They should not be read as one single estimate for one firefighter.
The NIOSH study, the largest of them, found a 9% increase in cancer diagnoses. Across 30,000 people that is a serious elevation.
What It Costs
Insurance is not the same as covered
Stamford firefighters have good health coverage. A diagnosis still puts a household under real financial pressure, because two things happen at once and they pull in opposite directions.
Income falls. Treatment schedules cut into the work a firefighter can do, and a second job usually stops altogether. In many households a spouse reduces hours or leaves work entirely to handle appointments and care, and some families were running on one income to begin with. The paycheck shrinks in the same month the bills start.
Costs climb. The 2026 federal out-of-pocket maximum for a family plan is $21,200, and that is the ceiling on formal cost-sharing alone. Alongside it, families pay up front while claims, approvals, and coverage questions are still being worked out. Some of that comes back eventually. Some never does.
For a sense of scale on the medical share by itself: privately insured colorectal cancer patients paid a median of $4,417 out of pocket around surgery, with roughly $1,368 more for chemotherapy and $842 more for radiation.
Across a year, $10,000 to $25,000 is a realistic range for what a family absorbs. Much of it lands early, in the weeks after diagnosis, well before longer-term benefits and protections begin. Closing that particular window is what this fund is built to do.
The fund we're building hardest
We're capitalizing this fund first, because it's the need our members are most likely to face. A gift here doesn't cover a single year of assistance. It becomes part of the base the fund pays out from, for every Stamford firefighter diagnosed from here on.
DonateSources
Every number, cited
Sources last reviewed: August 12, 2026
Cancer risk and mortality
- LeMasters GK, et al. “Cancer risk among firefighters: a review and meta-analysis of 32 studies.” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2006. View study
- Daniels RD, et al. “Mortality and cancer incidence in a pooled cohort of US firefighters.” Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2014. View study
- CDC / NIOSH. “Firefighter Cancer Rates: The Facts from NIOSH Research.” 2017. Read the bulletin
- American Cancer Society, Cancer Prevention Study-II firefighter mortality analysis, 2025. Read the announcement
- International Association of Fire Fighters, Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month. Visit the IAFF
Treatment costs
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, revised 2026 out-of-pocket limits ($10,600 individual / $21,200 family). See the limits
- Sahara K, et al. “Financial Impact of Out-of-Pocket Costs Among Patients Undergoing Resection for Colorectal Carcinoma.” Annals of Surgical Oncology, 2022. View study
The $10,000–$25,000 range is our own planning estimate rather than a published finding. It combines the documented medical cost-sharing above with ordinary non-medical costs: travel, lodging, childcare, lost income. Actual figures vary considerably by diagnosis, treatment, and plan.
If you find an error here, please tell us and we'll correct it: info@stamfordfirefoundation.org.