Chandler Fire Department continues to offer cancer screenings to firefighters

The Chandler Fire Department will continue to offer voluntary cancer screenings to its first responders, the latest in a series of measures aimed at reducing and mitigating firefighters’ exposure to carcinogens.

The Chandler City Council has renewed its contract with Vincere Cancer Center for enhanced cancer prevention and diagnostic services in an amount not to exceed $550,000 through June 2025. These services provide Chandler Fire Department personnel with access to a wide range of screenings, scans, blood tests and other tests to detect cancer early. The contract with Vincere Cancer Center may be renewed annually to continue services through June 2029.

Chandler Fire has seen high participation and success rates since launching its cancer screening program in November 2022. The most recent screening had a 94 percent participation rate and revealed 19 significant findings, including eight positive cancer diagnoses.

Cancer screening services complement the preventive measures taken by the Chandler Fire Department to reduce exposure to carcinogens found in smoke, chemicals and off-gassing materials.

Chandler’s response begins at the scene of an incident with procedures and personal protective equipment that reduce firefighters’ exposure to hazardous substances. Then, firefighters undertake extensive decontamination efforts after incidents and training exercises, and report exposure to smoke and other combustibles.

Each firefighter is provided with two complete sets of uniforms so that one set can be cleaned after exposure. The Chandler Fire Department also purchased fume hoods, a type of powerful washing machine, for each station to speed up the cleaning process of the uniforms. The uniforms and boots remain in the apparatus bay to avoid decontamination of the firefighter’s living quarters.

Even the design and use of fire stations have been changed to include walk-through spaces and provide adequate distance between equipment stations and firefighters’ living quarters, further reducing exposure to diesel fumes and hazardous substances.

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