Fire Fighting in Canada: Studying the Statistics

A Canadian study is calling for the creation of a national firefighter wellness surveillance system to help address soaring cancer rates and other key firefighter health risks.

The study looked at 10 years of firefighter health and injury data and found that cancer caused more than 86 per cent of firefighter fatalities – overtaking cardiovascular disease as the top killer of Canadian firefighters.

The study was conducted by the British Columbia Injury Research and Prevention Unit and the University of the Fraser Valley in B.C.

Fire Fighting in Canada editor Grant Cameron spoke with several of the authors of the study.

See the graph below for more information about firefighter illness, injury and death in Canada, or go to https://cjr.ufv.ca/ to view the study.