Copyright KABC-TV
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- New research is confirming Southern California firefighters are putting their health on the line as they battle to protect lives and save homes. Not just for hours, but for days, frontline firefighters were inhaling thick, dark smoke during January's fires in Los Angles - a hugely heroic job, with a potentially huge impact to their health. "We know that there were some changes within the bodies of the firefighters based on this exposure," said Dr. Jeff Burgess, a University of Arizona professor and director of the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study. He had blood samples from 42 firefighters with the Los Angeles Fire Department, Oxnard Fire Department and the Orange County Fire Authority from before the fires. Burgess tested their blood again about a week after the fires and his team found changes in a group of blood proteins which impact the body's immune system and can lead to inflammation. "I am always concerned when we find something that could pose an increased risk to firefighters," Burgess told 7 On Your Side Investigates. Burgess is now applying for funding so he can test these same firefighters again - a year after the L.A. fires - to see if the protein changes are still in their blood. If they are, it means they could be at greater risk of cancer. "It doesn't mean that these firefighters are going to get cancer, it means that they could potentially have a higher risk for that after these exposures," Burgess said. Another question is: What does it mean for the rest of us who were also breathing in that smoke? Burgess says it is not good for our health to breathe that in, but he says frontline firefighters breathe in significantly more smoke, so the health risk is much greater to them.
