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Dangers of fire

I grew up in the golden age of superhero films. My first memory of watching a film like

this was my mother taking me to the movie theater as a child to go see “Iron Man”. I fell in love

with the movie with its exhilarating action, great CGI, and the legendary actor Robert Downey jr

whose story itself is inspiring.“Sometimes to do what is right we have to give up the things we

want the most '', doing the right thing is something you can't put off, it's a responsibility. With

my love of superheroes as a child, one moment in elementary school intertwined it with

something I could do in my life and as my career. We had a day where Firefighters came to our

school and showed off their firetrucks and the heavy equipment they use on calls. This memory

always stuck with me as they were real-life superheroes to me. They had cool gear, similar to

Superhero suits, and they dedicated their lives to helping and being of service to others. Which is

what all my favorite superheroes inspire me to do. I am now seventeen thinking about my future

and what I want to do with my life. I couldn't think of careers I wanted to take on as jobs. The

only thing that interested me a little was being a businessman but I felt it lacked something to it,

it lacked meaning and a purpose, it lacked doing something bigger than myself. As I wandered

into my mind thinking “What am I going to do” I remembered when firefighters came to my

school and I started to look into firefighting. I fell in love with it as it has everything I want and

inspires me. It is purposeful and meaningful, it's bigger than me and they are heroes sacrificing

their lives for the safety of their community. I also loved going to the gym, fitness, and just

improving myself every day but now instead of it just being for me it's for something greater.

Although there is one aspect of this

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 job which is a drawback, the mental and physical risks of being one as it is a dangerous

job. This leads to my question: What are the psychological and physical effects of being a

firefighter?

The first obvious danger is physically being close to the fire. Things like burns and

injuries. Injuries can come from structures that collapse inside a burning building, having to do

many physical abilities with their heavy gear, and putting their bodies through as much stress as

pro-NFL players. My mentor Haines Mike, a firefighter at Sacramento fire department said

“Firefighters are like athletes that don't have an off-season”. This stuck with me as this is how I

had always thought but never had it put into words. A study from 2017 covered the injuries

firefighters faced and a staggering 58% of injuries were from non-fire incidents.“Sprains, strains,

and muscular pain are the most prevalent of all injury types incurred by firefighters” (Evarts &

Stein, 2019; Evarts & Molis, 2018). The only way to help firefighters recover from muscle

strains is by doing things that aid muscle recovery and growth. Although the number of injuries

firefighters face from burns and dangerous chemicals has been decreasing since the 80s by

almost 50%, physical injuries such as muscle sprains have stagnated. Taking care of these

muscle strain injuries is very important as they can help reduce further injury. “Unless the

condition is addressed, the injury may develop into permanent muscle damage, which not only

decreases its physical functionality and performance”(“What Can Happen When You Ignore a

Muscle Injury? | Integrated Rehab”). Recovering these muscles as we can see is vital to their

longevity and performance.

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 Firefighters are athletes so they have to train and recover like athletes. This can be

accomplished through high-intensity training, stretching, hydrotherapy, compressing muscles

massage, diet, and good sleep. To cover the training firefighters do intense weight lifting and

conditioning. Now the most crucial part of recovery can be done by adequately stretching

muscles before training sessions and before work. Stretching has been shown to prime your

body, increase blood flow, and help joints move in their full range of motion. Hydrotherapy

includes cold baths, hot baths, and even both. These practices improve cardiovascular health,

recover muscles and joints quicker, and reduce muscle stress. The most essential things for being

in shape are nutrition and sleep. Nutrition can be taken care of by eating lots of whole foods and

balancing your macros. Generally, athletes need to aim to have 45-60% of their diet be carbs, 20-

30% be Protein, and 20-25% be fat. Now one of the most critical elements of recovering and

having peak performance is sleep which is the most difficult thing for firefighters to get

depending on how busy the station you are at is. Firefighters must go to calls and emergencies no

matter what time it is which bleeds into their sleeping. Sleep improves performance according to

A Stanford study “men’s basketball players who extended their sleep to 10 hours a night found

several positive outcomes. The players ran faster in both half-court and full-court sprints. Their

shooting improved by at least 9%”. Not only does this show the effects on performance but lack

of sleep increases the risk of injuries.

This lack of sleep that firefighters face not only affects them physically but also mentally

and is an essential factor in a person's life. Firefighters here in California usually work for 48

hours straight at the station then they get 96 hours off. During the 48 hours that they are at work

emergencies can happen at any time even in the middle of the night while sleeping. If firefighters

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work at a busy station this can dramatically impact their life. “Adults who sleep less than 7 hours

each night are more likely to say they have had health problems, including heart attack, asthma,

and depression”. Firefighters are already prone to mental issues like depression and PTSD due to

the nature of their work but lack of sleep contributes to that problem. Sleep also affects the

performance of the brain as stated by “This can have adverse effects on athletes whose sports

require a high level of cognitive function, such as decision making and adapting to new

situations”. Firefighters need to make decisions on the fly and one wrong decision made quickly

or deciding to do something too fast can be the difference between living or dying in an

emergency.

Next, I want to delve into the health risks that firefighters are at risk. The first obvious

ones are cancer and lung cancer as being in direct contact with fire can cause these. Studying this

topic deeper revealed to me how they are also at risk for things like hearing loss, heart disease,

and even alcohol and substance abuse. According to “Firefighters face a 9 percent increase in

cancer diagnoses, and a 14 percent increase in cancer-related deaths, compared to the general

population in the U.S”. This is alarming as it puts the likelihood of firefighters getting cancer at

about 50%. Cancer that these firefighters are getting diagnosed with is rare and studying the

effects is relatively new. The most surprising to me as it is never talked about is the risk that they

face for alcohol and substance abuse. According to a 2013 study “Of the firefighters surveyed,

85 percent of career and 71 percent of volunteer firefighters reported drinking alcohol in the past

30 days”. Compared to the general population firefighters have a 20% more chance of

consuming alcohol in the past month. Abusing alcohol is dangerous as it can cause issues with

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your heart, and brain, and cause cancer. These are all things firefighters are already at risk for so

adding these things with what they have to deal with is like adding fuel to the flames.

With all these mental issues they face, you must think about what resources the

firefighters can reach out to or have access to. Talking to my mentor, Haines explained to me

some of the resources they have and said “We are good about people taking time off, people get

stress leave…My city offers counseling and an EAP (employee assistance program) for

marriage, kids, and anything else”. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed many major bills like The

California Firefighter Peer Support and Crisis Referral Services Act which covers help statewide

for the topics that Haines touched on. He also signed The Trauma Treatment Act which gives

first responders compensation while recovering from mental health-related issues. For most

people in first responder careers it people try to keep the trauma that they deal with although

explained by “ Despite this resiliency, it’s natural for the human brain to become overwhelmed

by repeated exposure to trauma and stress. Even well-adjusted firefighters are at risk of

eventually succumbing to a mental health issue related to their job”. Also Haines has a personal

story with mental health issues and keeping them to himself explaining to me “One of my best

friends to PTSD committed suicide. I try to leave this stuff at work and don't want my kids to

know about it”. This shows how important it is for First responders to have resources readily

available to them to go through the issues they are facing. Haines also said, “there are way more

resources for firefighters now than back then (referring to 20 years ago when he first became a

firefighter).” I then asked him a follow-up question to see if he has seen more firefighters deal

with issues now then before. He replied with “No I have actually seen the reverse effect… the

world is more open now to sharing those kinds of issues as before when something happened on

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a call, of course, someone would go ask if you were okay but that would be the end of it and you

would kind of have to suck it up”.

With all these risks firefighters put their life on the line for it is worth looking into if

people are discouraged from getting into this profession be it getting scared away with all these

risks, or them not being compensated well enough. According to the San Francisco Chronicle

“The U.S. The Forest Service, which operates the nation’s largest wildland fire force, entered the

summer months with about 25% fewer firefighters in California than it had planned for”. The

reason for the drop in people being employed was due to people getting tired of their demanding

work loads during the coronavirus pandemic. Many workforces have been impacted by the

pandemic heavily and it can have major consequences as the workload is increasing for

firefighters with there being more materials in houses which are susceptible to fire causing the

margin for error and time to get out safely lower and lower. This with the increasing

consequences of climate change can cause the effects of fire to have a more lasting and deadly

impact.

The nature of firefighting has changed as technologies have advanced in the modern

world. Most of these changes have come from Electric vehicles which contain lithium batteries.

Although as the world is fastly approaching a world where electric vehicles are the norm

Firefighters have to adapt to the new challenges that arise. The first challenge that comes with

these vehicles is that they can burn for a long time and water does not bode well with electricity

as stated by a fire engineer “Damaged batteries can often produce a flammable gas. Submersion

in water, especially salt water, can damage electrical components and result in a short —

meaning potential fire once the vehicle is removed from water”(“'Our worst nightmares':

Firefighters have serious concerns about electric vehicles”). I interviewed Joseph Alvaranza, a

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Firefighter and he stated “ With the world moving more to an all electric vehicle world our jobs

as Firefighters become even more important but also even more dangerous… Our only threat

isn't just electric vehicles but with climate change making the average temperature hotter forest

fires will become way more common and being in california where they are already common we

have to train for them more”. One thing I overlooked was the dangers of climate change as it

makes the already dangerous fires even more hot and more common which is going to be a big

problem especially in states like California. “Multiple studies have found that climate change

has already led to an increase in wildfire season length, wildfire frequency, and burned

area.The wildfire season has lengthened in many areas due to factors including warmer

springs, longer summer dry seasons, and drier soils and vegetation.” (“Climate Change

Indicators: Wildfires | US EPA”).

Looking back on my research it is very clear to me that Firefighting is a very

dangerous and wearying career path both on the mental side of things and the physical side

of things. Doing this senior project helps me really know and understand what I'm going to

get myself into. Alvaranza stated “ There is no other job I'd rather do than this one as the ups

outweigh the downs experienced… When I know I've helped people and really made an

impact I feel really fulfilled and”. I really relate to this as it's a feeling that I want to get out

of life. The research I spent will be beneficial as when challenges arise which they will, I will

have the background Knowledge to face them.

As I look back on my research I am not discouraged with choosing this as my career path.

People who have gone through this career feel the same way. There are always going to have to

be people who take up these kinds of careers and even though I do not have to do this I feel as if

it is my duty and responsibility to do something with my life that is for the better of other people

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rather than solely benefitting myself. It also seems like an enjoyable career as you are with all

your station members forming bonds and making memories. They also get a lot of free time

which leaves a lot of time to develop new interests. My mentor Haines stated, “My kids and the

experiences I make with people at my station and work are the reason I keep on going as there's

nothing else that makes me happier”.

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 Works Cited

Movies

Sony, director. Spider-Man 2. Sony, 2004.

Interview

Haines, Mike. Interview.

Alvaranza, Joseph. Interview

Articles

“Chapter 1: Ergonomics and Wellness (firefighter injuries).” U.S. Fire Administration,

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/a-z/health-safety-wellness/ergonomics/ch1-firefighter-injuries.html.

Accessed 20 March 2023.

“What Can Happen When You Ignore a Muscle Injury? | Integrated Rehab.” Integrated

Rehabilitation Services, 1 October 2020, https://integrehab.com/blog/injuries/ignore-muscle-

injury/. Accessed 11 April 2023.

“Chapter 1: Ergonomics and Wellness (firefighter injuries).” U.S. Fire Administration,

https://www.usfa.fema.gov/a-z/health-safety-wellness/ergonomics/ch1-firefighter-injuries.html.

Accessed 20 March 2023.

Haines, Mike. Interview.

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 “How Sleep Affects Athletic Performance.” Sleep Foundation, 13 April 2022,

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-activity/athletic-performance-and-sleep.

Accessed 20 March 2023.

Jahnke, Sara. “Firefighters and alcohol: What the data says.” FireRescue1, 7 April 2015,

https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-chief/articles/firefighters-and-alcohol-what-the-data-

says-EEmQCV9ztxdv60BH/. Accessed 20 March 2023.

Matthews, Michael. Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the

Ultimate Male Body. Oculus Publishers, 2015.

“Research – Nine Alarm.” Nine Alarm, https://ninealarm.com/pages/research. Accessed

20 March 2023.

Sony, director. Spider-Man 2. Sony, 2004.

“What Can Happen When You Ignore a Muscle Injury? | Integrated Rehab.” Integrated

Rehabilitation Services, 1 October 2020, https://integrehab.com/blog/injuries/ignore-

muscle-injury/. Accessed 11 April 2023.

“How Sleep Affects Athletic Performance.” Sleep Foundation, 13 April 2022,

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-activity/athletic-performance-and-sleep. Accessed 20

March 2023.

“Research – Nine Alarm.” Nine Alarm, https://ninealarm.com/pages/research. Accessed 20

March 2023.

Jahnke, Sara. “Firefighters and alcohol: What the data says.” FireRescue1, 7 April 2015,

https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-chief/articles/firefighters-and-alcohol-what-the-data-says-

EEmQCV9ztxdv60BH/. Accessed 20 March 2023.

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“'Our worst nightmares': Firefighters have serious concerns about electric vehicles.” The Hillsdale Daily

News, 3 February 2023, https://www.hillsdale.net/story/news/fire/2023/02/03/our-worst-nightmares-

firefighters-have-serious-concerns-about-electric-vehicles/69856024007/. Accessed 19 April 2023.

Alexander, Kurtis. “California's firefighter shortage has gotten dramatically worse.”

San Francisco Chronicle, 6 August 2022, https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-

wildfires/article/forest-service-firefighters-17350152.php. Accessed 13 April 2023.

“Climate Change Indicators: Wildfires | US EPA.” Environmental Protection Agency, 21 March 2023,

https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-wildfires. Accessed 23 April 2023.

Books

Matthews, Michael. Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male

Body. Oculus Publishers, 2015.

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