Call to service: SRS firefighter helps others

The 45 pounds of protective gear worn by firefighters isn’t enough to protect them from a cancer diagnosis.

In the United States, firefighters are 14% more likely to die following a cancer diagnosis, and they are 9% more likely to get cancer than those with a different occupation. In 2016, cancer became the leading cause of death for firefighters, according to the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

Even with these risks being known, firefighters like Phillip Weathers still gear up and respond to emergencies.

“If they told me that a hundred percent, I was going to get cancer and die doing this job, I would still do it,” said Weathers. “When you go to a call out there, you're going to everybody's very worst day, and we get to make it better in any shape or fashion, and you can always find a way to make it better, at least a little bit,”

Weathers has been a career firefighter since 1997 and has worked with multiple fire departments before his current position as a firefighter with the Savannah River Site (SRS). He knew the first time he rode on a firetruck he found his calling.

In 2014, Weathers founded FireKFiveK, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support to local firefighter families who are struggling with cancer and associated medical debt after seeing a great need amongst the nearly 3,000 volunteer and professional firefighters living in the CSRA.

Now, FireK hosted their annual 5K run on Saturday, October 1 at 8 a.m. at the Lady Antebellum Pavilion at Evans Town Center Park in Evans, Ga.

“We say this thing in the fire service, ‘I'm not here for me, I'm here for we, and we are here for them,’” said Weathers. “If you can't be true to the second part of that, if you can't be here for the ‘we,’ you can't be here for them.”

FireKFiveK has been a resource for up to six families a year, and continues to help both career and volunteer firefighters as well as their family members. In recent years, FireK has aided firefighters in Hilda and Allendale County.

Lieutenant Dean Griffin of the Hilda Fire Department was recovering from prostate surgery when Hilda Fire Chief Thomas Sharpe handed him a check written by FireK.

“Two months after my prostate surgery and all, he came by and handed me a check,” said Griffin. “I was still going through the process of getting over the surgery and learning how to function again, and it was just very emotional for me.”

“I had tears in my eyes, it just touched me that people still look out for you,” said Griffin, who explains he wouldn’t have reached out for resources if it wasn't for Chief Sharpe’s help.

Griffin had joined the fire department in 2004 after some of his family members experienced the ‘worst days’ Weathers referred to.

“If you were to try to define a firefighter’s character, it’s just the majority of these guys do not have the ability to see something bad happen and not intervene,” said Weathers.

In Allendale County in 2019, the late David Cooke was a paramedic, a Highway Patrolman for 25 years, and a volunteer firefighter for over two decades.

Weathers explains Cooke was unable to finish his service with the Highway Patrol before his retirement which was two weeks away. He and his fiancé were looking for continued care.

FireK gave Cooke a check, which allowed him to buy his fiancé a ring before he passed away months later, said Weathers.

Weathers, who is based in Georgia, started the ‘FiveK’ aspect of Firek after attending a Hometown Heroes 5K run in support of a local firefighter.

FireKFiveK’s first event was held in April 2014 in Hampton County and he raised nearly $3,000 to be donated directly to three firefighters dealing with illness.

Weathers explains he and other FireK members like Vice President and fellow SRS firefighter Tony Smiley used vacation time to organize this event. The 5K was the first large-scale event Weathers had ever planned.

“We got $982 and some change for each person, but I made those checks and took them to hand out and it felt like I had done something,” said Weathers.

This feeling was also present at FireK’s Blues and Barbecue themed Hero's Night when recipients joined with sponsors and organization members to celebrate and honor the sacrifice of local heroes.

“We had a couple past recipients who wanted to speak,” said Weathers. One of those speakers was Mary Lockhart who served as a firefighter for ten years.

Before the event, Weathers expressed to Lockhart he felt he was “spinning his wheels” and not making enough impact.

Lockhart, who has stage four cervical cancer, reached into her purse and showed him medical bills paid for by the FireK donation. She explained to him that her children will have a Christmas because FireK took care of the medical expenses.

At Hero’s Night, Lockhart explained all it takes to make a difference is people who want to make a difference.

FireK has also been working to bridge the gap in healthcare where firefighters commonly fall through.

FireK is currently working with Dr. Jorge Cortes, director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University, to form a study group to provide free testing for firefighters based on current health recommendations.

Some of the occupational health recommendations made for firefighters are things like changing the required age for firefighters to get a colonoscopy from 50-years-old to 40-years old due their increased exposure to hazardous materials.

These recommendations are made by a board of oncologists working with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), according to Weathers. However, some insurance companies base their age requirements for certain procedures on recommendations made by the American College of Surgeons, explained Weathers.

Therefore, insurance companies will not pay for procedures like a colonoscopy for patients under the age of 50.

“It puts firefighters in general in a very tight spot,” said Weathers. “You're telling us that we're at more risk and we should get tested sooner, but then you're not giving us access to it.”

IAFF also recognizes the use of PFAS, a category of man-made chemicals that have been linked to diseases like cancer, in firefighter gear.

“It's a long chain molecule that is harder to ignite and it can be found in a variety of different fabrics, and that gets absorbed into our system as well and it may be contributing to the overall cause,” said Weathers of PFAS.

Although the gear is supposed to protect them from heat, smoke, toxins, burnt debris and much more, the IAFF recognizes it also poses a potential threat.

“We wear respiratory protection, the majority of the time that we're doing; however, you know, there are things you can't control,”

Weathers explains how 50 years ago buildings and structures were made of wood, now many synthetic materials are being used to furnish and build buildings, such as fast food restaurants.

When those items are melting, it creates toxic chemicals that their skin is not protected from.

“Our skin is not protected from that, we’re protected from heat by the bulkiness of our gear, but smoke and stuff penetrates right through that,” said Weathers.

Weathers explains once you start sweating, “your absorption rate is 400 times the rate” than it would normally be. This causes your body to more rapidly take in the toxins settling on the skin.

“Does it take one exposure? Does it take 50? Does it take 10? Or is it just wearing the gear around? We don’t know,” said Weathers, who hopes FireK can be a part of finding these answers.

FireK also gives a thousand dollars or 10% of their sales, whatever is greater, to the LiveStrong Campaign which works in conjunction with the Wilson YMCA in Augusta to provide classes and memberships to cancer survivors.

Visit https://www.firekfivek.com/ for more information on FireKFiveK.