By Cindy Devone-Pacheco, FireRescue magazine

On Friday afternoon, the fire service and Tri-Data researchers went head to head in a debate about the report released last April stating there was no connection between firefighting and cancer. Representatives from Tri-Data included Dr. Harold C. Cohen and Clara Kim. Chief Billy Goldfeder represented the fire service, with assistance from Dr. Sarah Pyle and IAFF representative Alex Forest.

Dr. Cohen and Ms. Kim began the session by stating the case for the report released by Tri-Data. Their argument was detailed and restored a bit of credibility to their work. They explained that, in their opinion, they did everything they could to gather information from various agencies that have data on firefighter cancer rates, but discovered it was very difficult to obtain complete data from anyone. They admitted that relationships between firefighters and certain types of cancers do exist, but there’s simply not enough scientific data available to obtain conclusive results. Therefore, their report states that they could find no results that either proved or disproved a link between firefighting and cancer.

When Chief Goldfeder took the stand to respond to their argument, it was clear the discussion was going to be a colorful one, which is to the chief’s credit, as he, in typical fashion, got right to the point. He blasted Tri-Data for the press release that went out in April with the headline, “Study fails to establish link between cancer and firefighting.” This became a major sticking point throughout the session, as it became clear that the wording of that headline was grossly inaccurate and misleading, and neither the National League of Cities (the agency that funded the study) nor Tri-Data has issued a revised release or even an apology for, as the chief put it “yelling ‘fire’ in the theatre.”

Chief Goldfeder went on to say that the release, and therefore the report, implied it was OK for firefighters to not wear their PPE, since there was no link found between firefighting and cancer. Interestingly enough, just 2 days ago, the National League of Cities released a press release stating that it supports the idea of establishing a national firefighter cancer registry, something both Tri-Data and the firefighters in the session both agreed on. But this of course begs the question: Why would the League support a registry on cancer rates among firefighters when it doesn’t believe there’s a link between the disease and firefighting?

Alex Forest from the IAFF took the stand following Chief Goldfeder, admitting he was astonished by the report’s findings, especially considering the numerous studies that have been conducted in the United States and Canada and other countries that came to the opposite conclusion. He accused Tri-Data and the National League of Cities of failing to do their homework, and failing to recognize the simple fact that firefighting has become increasingly dangerous to firefighter health for the simple reason that the toxicity level of fires has increased due to the increase in the use of plastics—a clear no-brainer for the audience. He went on to say the league was most likely trying to blur the issue, and trying to force a debate that shouldn’t be.

In short, the debate was honest, and therefore productive, but it was clear that Tri-Data issued a report that should never have been issued. They admitted they had difficulty obtaining data, and that there isn’t enough “science” out there yet to make solid conclusions, but if that’s true, they should have halted their study.

And if issuing the report was an error, issuing the press release was a “PR nightmare” as Chief Goldfeder stated. That release was what most firefighters read, not the entire Tri-Data report. The release actually disagreed with the report. The report does state that there is a connection between firefighting and cancer, but the release stated there was none. The Tri-Data researchers noted they never got the chance to read the release before it was issued. Had they seen it, they might have requested the League to change the wording, which would have then possibly changed the release and the fire service’s subsequent outraged reaction.

The audience questioned the researchers’ response, or lack thereof, to the release’s wording, stating that a revision or correction would have been appropriate, and that no reaction or correction is wildly inappropriate. Dr. Cohen responded to this awkwardly by saying he thought the fire service’s reaction to the press release was a little “bombastic,” so reactions on both sides could have been better.

Chief Goldfeder responded by saying the reaction wasn’t “bombastic,” it was realistic.

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