U.S. Will Pay $450,000 to Wildfire Fighters With Cancer

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They will be eligible for a one-time payment as well as college tuition for their children. The effort is part of a legislative push to address the dangers of working in toxic smoke.

The federal government has known for years that wildfire fighters, who spend weeks at a time in poisonous smoke, can develop deadly cancers from the exposure.

Now, they will be eligible for a payment of nearly $450,000 and college tuition for their family if they die or become debilitated from a smoke-related cancer, under a law signed by President Trump on Thursday.

The measure is part of a bipartisan push in Congress to overhaul how the government protects and compensates firefighters who work in toxic wildfire smoke — with multiple bills pending that would enforce the use of masks, expand benefits and recognize smoke exposure as a major occupational hazard.

Worsening fire seasons have meant that firefighters spend more time in dense smoke, and many are developing serious diseases at young ages.

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The new law covers firefighters who work for public agencies. A different bill, sponsored by Representative Bruce Westerman, Republican of Arkansas, could extend benefits to private contractors who fall ill after working for wildfire companies the government hires to round out its ranks. That legislation passed the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.

Other bills focus on compensating wildfire crews for the dangers they face and improving safety. A House bill introduced in September by Representative Celeste Maloy, Republican of Utah, would grant wildland firefighters hazard pay for prescribed burns — planned fires that are meant to prevent larger ones. That work is currently paid less than fighting active wildfires, despite comparable smoke exposure.

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About two-thirds of the country’s 40,000 wildland firefighters work for state and federal agencies. By law, many of their cancers are assumed to be job-related, and their workers’ compensation benefits are automatically approved.

The other firefighters — about 14,000 — are like Joel. They work for private companies that the government hires to shore up its ranks against a growing wildfire threat. Reliance on these contract crews has more than doubled since 2019, as climate change drives more extreme fire seasons. They have fought alongside federal workers in every major fire of the last decade.

On the front line, all crews take orders from the same command structure and breathe the same smoke. But the laws that cover government workers do not extend to contractors. To get benefits when they fall ill, contract firefighters must prove that smoke exposure caused their cancer — an all but impossible task.

Some go without needed chemotherapy and radiation. Others take on so much debt their families become homeless. Some return to fighting wildfires even while sick.

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