By Kevin Landrigan
The New Hampshire Union Leader
CONCORD, N.H. — Firefighters facing elevated risks of getting on-the-job-related cancers secured long-sought political victories at the State House in Concord and on Capitol Hill last week.
The Executive Council approved two contracts last Wednesday totaling $5 million to conduct voluntary screenings for all 4,000 full-time and retired New Hampshire firefighters who want them to identify risks of both cancer and cardiovascular disease, the latter another leading cause of premature death for first responders.
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Then in Washington, a day later, the U.S. Senate voted, 77-20, to approve a defense spending bill that included the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act.
The law would recognize duty-related cancers as a cause to automatically trigger death and education benefits to family survivors of firefighters, police officers and other law enforcement officials.
The U.S. House passed the bill, 311-112, earlier this month and was signed by President Donald Trump.
Chris Wyman , a Merrimack Fire Department lieutenant who lost his wife, Nashua Fire Lt. Jessica Wyman , to occupational lung cancer in 2023, attended the council meeting.
Several years ago, the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire at its annual convention offered voluntary screenings; about 100 firefighters took the test, and Union President Brian Ryll said three were found to be positive for cancer.
This prompted the union to push for legislation to offer this screening to all firefighters.
“This program will save lives and already has done so,” Ryll said.
Pilot program
Former Gov Chris Sununu signed bipartisan legislation in 2024 (SB 352), authored by Senate President Sharon Carson, R- Londonderry, that created the pilot program.
“Our firefighters put their lives on the line to help protect and serve our communities, and we’ve lost too many people far too young as a result of the hazards of their job,” Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in a statement. “This investment will help us take care of those who have taken care of us with improved cancer screenings.”
Grail Inc. of Menlo, California, was awarded a $2.2 million contract to conduct the blood test screenings, while United Diagnostic Services LLC of Brooklyn, New York, will do ultrasound diagnostic and CT lung scans under a $2.8 million contract.
Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn said the screenings were critical since those found to have Stage 1 cancers early on have a 90% chance of long-term survival.
“Our firefighters work tirelessly to protect Granite Staters. Unfortunately, in doing so, they face elevated cancer risks,” Quinn said. “This early screening program is a vital investment in protecting and saving the lives of those who never hesitate to answer the call.”
A week ago, U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D- N.H., hosted a news conference at the Nashua Fire Department with Lt. Chris Wyman and others to highlight the legislation and urge the Senate to pass it.
“New Hampshire’s firefighters are American heroes who show up for our communities every day — from Nashua to the North Country. They put their lives on the line to save lives,” Goodlander said. “With the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act now signed into law, we are finally delivering long-overdue justice for the families of Granite State firefighters who lost loved ones to cancers caused by their service.
“This is a hard-fought win for New Hampshire, and I’m proud to have been part of turning their courage and sacrifice into action and into law.”
Goodlander said more work needs to be done on firefighters’ behalf, including getting rid of all firefighting foam and protective gear that contains PFAS “forever chemicals,” which pose their own cancer risks.
Further steps
Ryll said the Dana Farber Cancer Institute has formed a partnership with the screening program, offering to provide a “start to finish” one-stop cancer care service for any firefighter who has a confirmed diagnosis.
“They are interested in being part of the program going forward by doing a prospective study to analyze the scope of this problem and help us create an ongoing program as well,” Ryll said.
Another goal is to extend screening to volunteer firefighters who work in dozens of very small towns in the state, he said.
“We don’t even have a hard number of how many volunteers, past and present, are out there,” Ryll said.
In 2018, New Hampshire lawmakers made cancer a presumptive work-related illness for firefighters. Five years later, they expanded the law to put less of a burden on firefighters to prove that such claims should be covered.
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