Wildland firefighters deserve better cancer compensation, NDP says

An Alberta Wildfire firefighter. (Source: Alberta Wildfire)

Wildland firefighters forced off the job by cancer need Alberta’s UCP government to step up and make sure they’re properly and promptly compensated, says the opposition NDP.

Peggy Wright, the NDP’s jobs critic, said so-called presumptive cancer claims before the Workers’ Compensation Board should extend to wildland firefighters, like what’s already done for structural firefighters.

Under a presumptive system, firefighters who file claims do not have to show the direct cause of certain cancers under certain conditions — the cause is presumed to be their work.

The UCP has a chance to establish Alberta as a leader on the issue, Wright said. But instead the government lacks transparency about its consultations and research reviews, and fails to act even though three other Canadian provinces already include wildland firefighters in their presumptive coverage.

“They’re simply not doing enough to protect these heroes who every single year protect the rest of us,” the member for Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview said as Canada’s Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month was about to end.

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The provincial government maintains that progress is hampered by the scope of existing research and conflicting conclusions.

Unavailable for an interview, Jobs Minister Matt Jones said in emailed response to questions from The Macleod Gazette: “The current cancer research on firefighters has largely focused on career or full-time structural firefighters, making it difficult to generalize conclusions to firefighters working in other capacities, such as wildland firefighters.”

He added: “Hazards and exposure risks are different for wildland fires than they are for structural fires, and there is conflicting research about how the hazards impact firefighters’ health.”

For the last wildfire season, the province had funding to hire 1,000 wildland firefighters, up from 900 the year before. The government of Canada estimates that there are about 4,550 structural firefighters in Alberta, 84 per cent of whom are employed by municipal, regional, Indigenous or other governing administrations.

Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety legislation applies to firefighters, requiring employers to assess and control or eliminate worksite hazards, Jones pointed out. The minister also noted that personal protective equipment is important, but comparisons are challenging because PPE is different for wildland firefighters than it is for structural firefighters.

“Prevention is the key to workplace safety,” said Jones. “PPE is critical to the health and safety of all workers, especially our firefighters.”

Alberta is “constantly reviewing and updating our requirements for workers and workplaces to keep our workers safe on the job,” he said. “We want to make sure our firefighters have the very best tools and equipment to do their job safely.”

But Wright said emphasizing PPE isn’t enough for an “inherently complex” type of firefighting that doesn’t fit neatly into categories. Alberta faces more and hotter wildfires, these days, which swoop into built-up areas and cast firefighters into gruelling and unfamiliar situations.

“Fighting a grass fire is different from fighting a forest fire or a fire on the edge of town. If it’s a different structure, you need different things. If you’re in the middle of the bush somewhere, you need different PPE and other equipment than if you’re in the middle of the prairie somewhere, because different things burn at different rates,” she said.

Shifts are “incredibly long” and wildland firefighters are “incredibly tired” on the job.

“We’re asking them to do an awful lot, compressed into a relatively tiny time. And that the UCP government is unwilling to protect them in the same way as municipal firefighters is something I really don’t understand.”

Jones, the member for Calgary-South East, said: “Alberta’s government will continue to work with other jurisdictions and stakeholders to collect and review the latest research regarding wildland firefighters. Alberta currently aligns with most jurisdictions in Canada in not extending presumptions for occupational cancers and heart attacks to wildland firefighters.”

Most research confirms that structural firefighters face elevated cancer diagnoses. But in June 2022, the International Agency for Research on Cancer began to classify all firefighting as a known human carcinogen.

The agency, which is part of the World Health Organization, wrote at the time: “The term firefighters encompasses a heterogeneous group of paid and unpaid workers in industrial, municipal, and wildland settings, at the wildland-urban interface, and in other situations. In some settings, firefighting exposures have become more prevalent over time, because of the impacts of climate change.”

A study by the University of the Fraser Valley in B.C. found that nearly 86 per cent of job-related firefighter fatalities in Canada were attributed to cancer. The study looked at fatality and injury claims between 2006 and 2018.

Health Canada says that firefighters have a 14 per cent higher risk of dying from cancer than the general public does and a nine per cent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer.

Jones said: “We want to get this policy right for our firefighters, and getting the policy right means not making rash decisions that may have long-term implications for the firefighter community. Alberta’s government is working diligently to review the guidelines as fast as reasonably possible.”

The minister wouldn’t estimate when the government might change its policy. “The health and safety of our firefighters is something we can’t afford to get wrong,” he said in his emailed comments.

“Alberta’s government will continue to work tirelessly, doing the work to collect and review the latest research regarding presumptive coverage for firefighters.”

Provinces and territories look after their own workers’ compensation laws and regulations. Ontario, Manitoba and B.C. currently consider lists of cancers presumptive for wildland firefighters. Saskatchewan introduced amendments in December to extend to them presumptive coverage.

Said Wright: “Wildland firefighters are indeed firefighters. They are different from municipal firefighters, although structures can certainly be included in their work. But the fact is that they are exposed to a whole bunch of things that are at elevated levels, lots of particulate matter, things that I cannot pronounce, lots of volatile organic substances.”

Jones said that the lack of presumptive coverage does not prevent wildland firefighters and their families from making compensation claims through the regular process for work-related injuries, illnesses or fatalities.

“Alberta’s government acknowledges the significant risks that our wildland firefighters take to protect our communities,” Jones said.

“Our government continues to meet with stakeholders, review research and evidence related to workers’ compensation coverage, and monitor developments in other Canadian jurisdictions as we assess the potential for presumptions for wildland firefighters,” he continued.

“Worker health and safety is a top priority of Alberta’s government. Our goal is to ensure every Albertan goes home healthy and safe after each workday.”

Elsewhere in his responses, Jones said: “Alberta’s first-responders are heroes. We want to make sure they get the respect and compensation they deserve for their hard work and sacrifice as fast as possible.”

George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Macleod Gazette