The rate of cancer reporting is accelerating among Montreal firefighters, who account for 90% of all firefighter deaths in Quebec

MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2025 /CNW/ - In this month of January 2025, Firefighters' Cancer Awareness Month, the Association des Pompiers de Montréal reports that 89 of its members have died of work-related cancer, compared with 3 in action over the past 15 years. "This silent killer is a tragic daily reminder to firefighters that this insidious disease is growing in tandem with repeated exposure to toxins from the synthetic products that make up the main structural elements of all the modern buildings in Montreal's built heritage," said Association President Chris Ross today, adding that the number of calls to firefighters in the metropolis is in the tens of thousands every year (125,000 calls in 2023).

Firefighters have to deal with daily exposure to toxins and fumes of all kinds, year-round. (CNW Group/Association des pompiers de Montréal)

However, Ross was heartened by the recent involvement of Ottawa's Minister of Health and Quebec's Minister of Labour, both of whom agree that firefighters' working conditions need to be re-evaluated in light of the current economic climate.

Montreal's firefighters are in a rather unique situation, having to deal with the complexity of an exclusive multimodal transport network and a built heritage at greater risk, with a host of high-rise buildings and a historic district, Old Montreal, making their task particularly perilous. And that's not counting these perfluoroalkylated and polyfluoroalkylated synthetic substances (PFAS) which, adds Mr. Ross, form a complex chemical class of several thousand fluorinated organic compounds that can lead to major health problems such as liver damage, thyroid disease, obesity, fertility problems and cancers of all kinds. For the Association, the key to solving this growing problem remains prevention and early detection of these occupational diseases.

The union leader concluded by saying that the relatively recent awareness among all stakeholders of the proliferation of cancers among firefighters was the fruit of a social cohesion testifying to an assumed coherence of the rules of social justice and equity.

SOURCE Association des pompiers de Montréal

Alexandre Dumas, 514 898-4636, [email protected]