‘If I Live to 25, I’ve Lived a Good Life’

Joel Eisiminger was racing to prevention homes successful Northern California from a fast-spreading wildfire erstwhile a crewmate noticed that 1 broadside of his look was abruptly drooping truthful overmuch that his rima hung open.

In his six years warring fires, Joel had tumbled down burning hills, endured full-body rashes from poison oak and inhaled plumes of fume that near him gasping for weeks. But helium had ne'er felt arsenic atrocious arsenic helium did connected this greeting successful July 2024. He didn’t privation to fto down his crew, truthful helium kept moving heavy successful the wood until a medic told him to get to a hospital. He mightiness person had a stroke.

As the doctors ran tests, Joel grew sicker. Within days, helium was excessively exhausted to walk. On the eve of his 25th birthday, helium received a diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive, often fatal humor crab that usually strikes radical much than doubly his age. Joel told the doctors helium was not a regular smoker and had nary household past of humor cancers. But helium did person 1 hazard factor: his job.

For decades, wildfire fighters person been sent to enactment successful toxic fume without masks oregon warnings astir semipermanent wellness risks, The New York Times has reported. They inhale poisons that are linked to much than a twelve kinds of cancer, including leukemia. Many are falling gravely ill, and immoderate are dying astatine young ages.

But erstwhile these firefighters get sick, they don’t each person the aforesaid help.

About two-thirds of the country’s 40,000 wildland firefighters enactment for authorities and national agencies. By law, galore of their cancers are assumed to beryllium job-related, and their workers’ compensation benefits are automatically approved.

The different firefighters — astir 14,000 — are similar Joel. They enactment for backstage companies that the authorities hires to enactment up its ranks against a increasing wildfire threat. Reliance connected these declaration crews has much than doubled since 2019, arsenic clime alteration drives much utmost occurrence seasons. They person fought alongside national workers successful each large occurrence of the past decade.