'Unsolvable, unfair, wicked trade-off': Firefighters battle cancer causing substances during every firefight

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Firefighters around the world, including right here in Milwaukee, are hoping to extinguish an industry wide threat.

Firefighting is classified as a group one carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, meaning the profession could be just as cancerous as tobacco and radon.

"Why do we know that, and we don't have solutions," Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said.

Cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths of firefighters, according to the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). 

"A whole bunch of people I know died of cancer," Lipski said.

From the exhaust of the fire engines to the soot being dragged out of the firefight, Lipski told CBS 58 fire agencies are exposed to a number of cancer-causing substances on the job. 

Even the tools they use to protect themselves are increasing the risk. The gear firefighters wear into burning buildings have cancer causing chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, in them. 

"It is an unsolvable, unfair, wicked trade-off that we're asking our firefighters to make to go save another life and to commit to that exposure over and over again," Lipski said.

The International Assocation of Firefighters (IAFF) is working with researchers to find an alternative, but Lipski said manufacturers have yet to develop a material as protective in high temperature environments.

"I still have to be able to ensure that I'm not putting my firefighters in a burn unit every time they extinguish a cigarette," Lipski said.

MFD is taking steps to lower the risk of cancer, including washing gear in industrial washers and taking hot showers immediately after a fire fight.

"Our policy is extraordinarily aggressive," Lipski said.

Lipski said real change will require finding a silver bullet that doesn't yet exist.

"We have a huge, vested interest in getting this right," Lipski said.