Wildland firefighters face 8-43% increased lung cancer risk with no presumptive coverage

IARC classifies occupational exposure as a firefighter as Group 1 carcinogenic. Research quantifies wildland-specific risk: across career durations of 5-25 years and 49-98 fire days per year, wildland firefighters face 8-43% increased lung cancer mortality and 16-30% increased cardiovascular disease mortality. Yet most states' presumptive cancer laws, which shift the burden of proof for workers' comp claims, cover only structural firefighters, not wildland crews. A wildland firefighter who develops lung cancer after 20 seasons of inhaling particulate matter, benzene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons must individually prove the cancer was work-related, which is nearly impossible. So they pay for treatment out of pocket or go untreated. The structural cause is that wildland firefighters are classified as forestry workers, not firefighters, in many state workers' compensation systems, and the federal government employs most of them under land management agencies (Forest Service, BLM) rather than fire-specific agencies.