The Times<\/a> that the agency doesn\u2019t want to risk admitting how dangerous smoke really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFirefighters themselves often see masks as a sign of weakness. \u201cI would have gotten laughed at,\u201d Joel said. Instead, crewmates traded recommendations for pills and teas that might help their lung issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel often worked alongside unionized government employees who had better protection against smoke exposure. California\u2019s wildfire agency provides clean-air rest in hotels or trailers and 24 hours off between shifts. Unlike contract crews, Forest Service workers sometimes let ashes smolder instead of \u201cmopping up\u201d every ember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Pacific Oasis, bosses talked about the inevitability of \u201ceating smoke\u201d and the need to \u201csuffer and execute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel occasionally thought about trying to work directly for the government, but his career as a contractor seemed to be taking off. Early last year, his boss, Steve, invited him to train as a crew leader who would oversee an entire 20-person team. It was one of the proudest moments Joel could remember, and he began to imagine spending his life working for the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His mother, a care coordinator for veterans with cancer, struggled to understand how he could be out in all that smoke without a mask. Joel told her not to worry. \u201cI guess I thought I was invincible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Health Organization now says that firefighting can cause cancer. But many company owners remain dismissive about the long-term dangers of wildfire smoke. \u201cI\u2019m very skeptical,\u201d said Lee Miller, whose Miller Timber Services is among the largest U.S. firefighting companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\nR.J. McHatton\u2019s son Jason, a contract firefighter, died at 34 of cancer.Credit\u2026Jordan Gale for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAudrey Walleser, 45, got breast cancer after fighting wildfires for decades and had to skip chemotherapy.Credit\u2026Tailyr Irvine for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen Duane Boyd, 34, got testicular cancer, his workers\u2019 compensation claim was denied.Credit\u2026Madeleine Hordinski for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBeth Boatman\u2019s husband, Rick Menning, a longtime squad boss, died at 44 of lung cancer, leaving behind her and two daughters.Credit\u2026Jordan Gale for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMeranda Warren, vice president of the Northern Rockies Wildfire Contractors Association, said some in the industry were aware that smoke exposure can lead to illness. But, she said, \u201cpeople are afraid to speak up because of fear of losing our contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Joel, the risks started becoming clear in the days after his first chemotherapy session last summer. He kept checking the replies to his post on the message board and was surprised to see that in addition to the notes of support, dozens of firefighters were sharing their own stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI got diagnosed with cancer last October. Take care of yourself first, the fires will always be there,\u201d wrote a 36-year-old in Nevada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m almost at my four-year Cancerversary,\u201d wrote a firefighter in New York. \u201cYou\u2019ve got this!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another, in California, shared his diagnosis and wrote: \u201cAfter you are in remission please consider positions where you won\u2019t be on the line. It will be better for your health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel had known he was taking some chances by becoming a firefighter, but had always felt like he was safe once he made it back to the Wild Goose with no injuries. Now he wondered if his illness was not random bad luck but an almost inevitable consequence of decisions he had made when he was 18 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoel and his father, Matt, sat in a waiting room at the Medford cancer center.Credit\u2026Loren Elliott for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAs Joel grew sicker,<\/strong> the bills started arriving: $880 for a blood test, $15,030 for an overnight stay. He hoped workers\u2019 compensation might cover some expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe government paid Pacific Oasis about $60 an hour for each firefighter. Some of that funded workers\u2019 compensation insurance, which covers medical bills and lost wages when workers are injured or fall ill because of their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He went to Pacific Oasis headquarters to ask about filing a claim. He was too weak to drive, so his father, Matt, took him. They both remember Steve\u2019s response the same way: \u201cThere\u2019s no way that you can prove this is work-related.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the car ride home, Joel broke down. His father struggled to contain his outrage at Steve. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe he\u2019d spent thousands of hours working with Joel, but at the first sign of trouble, he changed completely,\u201d Matt remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steve, 67, had his own frustrations. He sympathized with Joel\u2019s plight and later said he was just trying to warn him that his claim was unlikely to succeed. A self-described hippie when he founded Pacific Oasis as a forestry company, he had only recently stopped leading fire crews himself and still believed strongly in universal health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he felt no responsibility for Joel\u2019s illness. He doubted that wildfire smoke exposure caused cancer, especially in someone who had spent so few years in the job. Steve was focused more on immediate dangers, like falling trees or chain saw injuries. \u201cCancer doesn\u2019t even make my top-10 list of worries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also had the concerns of a business owner. Joel\u2019s case might raise his insurance rates, already his largest expense behind payroll. Those who worked with him knew to expect both sides of his personality: He could be a paternal mentor who trained them and gave them second chances, but also a demanding boss who watched out for the bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Joel decided to pursue the benefits and, as required by law, began getting a portion of his lost wages while the insurer considered his case. It was enough to pay for his parents to stay at a nearby motel during his weekslong treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel was one of the youngest patients on the cancer ward and was determined to stay strong. He walked laps with his IV pole, logging miles each day. The nurses cheered him on, but they knew what was coming. By his second stay, in late August 2024, he could barely leave his bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One night he looked up the survival rate for acute myeloid leukemia: 70 percent of patients died within five years of diagnosis. For him, that would mean dying before he was 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wildfire smoke contains benzene, a known cause of acute myeloid leukemia, and studies have shown that firefighters die of blood cancers at higher rates. Joel\u2019s oncologist, Dr. Curtis Lachowiez, said he tried to discourage firefighters in remission from going back to that work. \u201cInhaling all those chemicals is not good for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel reluctantly decided to follow his doctor\u2019s advice. He applied for a scholarship through a leukemia foundation to become an arborist. \u201cHaving cancer has quickly taught me how precious life is, and reminded me that every living thing can be lost if not cared for,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spent September in and out of the emergency room with infections. His bones ached, and he was taking 15 pills a day to manage side effects from chemotherapy. One day, a letter came from the insurer. \u201cYour work is not the major contributing cause of your claimed disease,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel was stunned. No more payments were coming. He had no savings left, and months of treatment ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoel last November, during a round of chemotherapy at a hospital in Portland, Ore.Credit\u2026Joel Eisiminger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHis family cut back on groceries and maxed out their credit cards. His mother started picking up overtime shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With no money for his parents to stay nearby, Joel passed the time in the hospital playing online video games with friends from his crew. They teased him about losing his mountain-man beard and called him their little bald baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The treatment was working, but it left him depleted. At home, he crawled the steps to his attic bedroom on his hands and knees. Hospitals were sending second and third notices of unpaid bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the fall passed, he sometimes thought about how different it could have been if he had worked directly for the Forest Service. A 2022 federal law had given those firefighters automatic workers\u2019 comp benefits for many illnesses, including 14 cancers, that Congress determined were linked to their smoke exposure. Similar legislation in Canada had included contract crews, but that didn\u2019t happen in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel could have appealed his insurance denial. But it is rarely possible to prove the cause of cancer. Other contractors and their families have tried. After two years in court, a firefighter in Ohio with testicular cancer is still appealing. The widow and children of a crew member in California who died of esophageal cancer lost their home while fighting for coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In December, after Joel\u2019s final round of chemotherapy, an envelope arrived from Pacific Oasis. Inside was a year-end bonus check for a few hundred dollars and a note: \u201cI hope this reaches you in good health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel was relieved to be able to cover a bill or two. As the family sank into debt, he had begun to imagine earning overtime again on the fire line. Hiring for the year usually began when the snow melted, and involved a 45-minute hiking endurance test. He wondered if he could get strong enough to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoel fishing with his father on the Rogue River in Oregon.Credit\u2026Loren Elliott for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nJoel tried<\/strong> to hike again<\/strong> soon after the new year. At first, he took faltering steps and struggled to walk more than a few yards. But by the spring, he could make it to the ridge above town.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHis oncologist had told him he was in remission. But if the cancer came back, he would need a bone-marrow transplant. He felt like he had only a brief window. \u201cI\u2019m dying anyway, so I might as well live,\u201d he told a contract firefighter friend who had just returned from the Los Angeles fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March, his scholarship application to study to become an arborist was rejected. There were too many other qualified candidates, the letter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few weeks later, Joel and Matt went on a long uphill hike. Joel told his father what he now felt he had known all along: He was going back to firefighting. His father hesitated, but finally said, \u201cI know you love it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI guess I never realized how much I did,\u201d Joel said. \u201cAt the end of the day, if I live to 25, I\u2019ve lived a good life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thought someone from Pacific Oasis might reach out about coming back, but no one did. He couldn\u2019t bring himself to get in touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By July, a year after his diagnosis, he was looking farther afield. There were Forest Service jobs in Alaska, where more wildfires were burning than in the rest of the country combined. Soon, that became the plan. His parents bought a $600 plane ticket, paying $50 extra to make it refundable, just in case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four days before the flight, Joel drove to Pacific Oasis one last time. He needed his employment records to take to Alaska. But he also hoped that Steve might see him and decide to take him back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the office, Joel breathed in the familiar smell of wood chips and made a final appeal. \u201cI\u2019ve been broke from the cancer,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have five dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steve said he was sorry but Joel\u2019s health problems meant the job wasn\u2019t a good fit anymore. \u201cIt\u2019s just life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoel hugged his father at the Portland airport.Credit\u2026Loren Elliott for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nJoel put his motorcycle in storage, packed his fire bag just as he always had, and spent his last day in Oregon trout fishing with Matt. His fingers were stiff, a lingering effect of his illness, so his father tied the bait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next morning, he turned 26. His grandmother called to wish him a happy birthday. She didn\u2019t know he was about to catch a flight, and she asked if he had any fun plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel\u2019s voice broke as he started to answer. It felt like everything \u2014 his broken body, the debt, the uncertainty ahead \u2014 was landing on him at once. He stared for a while at the door, then pulled on his sunglasses and walked out to the truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His father followed behind. \u201cLet\u2019s go, buddy,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside, Joel could see smoke rising from the hills behind town. Dozens of large fires were burning across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon, he hoped, he would be out on one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoel waiting for his flight to Alaska, where more wildfires were burning than in the rest of the country combined.Credit\u2026Loren Elliott for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSteven Rich contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah Dreier<\/a> is a reporter for The Times who covers laws and policies by telling the stories of the people they affect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He started fighting wildfires as a teenager. After inhaling smoke on the front lines for six seasons, he faced an impossible choice. Listen to this article \u00b7 19:20 min Learn more By Hannah Dreier Joel Eisiminger was racing to save homes in Northern California from a fast-spreading wildfire when a crewmate noticed that one side of his face […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16703"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16705,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16703\/revisions\/16705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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