Wildfire Fighters, Unmasked in Toxic Smoke, Are Getting Sick and Dying

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Full article at link

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/us/wildfire-firefighters-masks-smoke.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fE8.7zT_._LGGRfnyObk4&smid=url-share

"The smoke from the wildfires that burned through Los Angeles in January smelled like plastic and was so thick that it hid the ocean. Firefighters who responded developed instant migraines, coughed up black goo and dropped to their knees, vomiting and dizzy.

Seven months later, some are still jolted awake by wheezing fits in the middle of the night. One damaged his vocal cords so badly that his young son says he sounds like a supervillain. Another used to run a six-minute mile and now struggles to run at all.

Fernando Allende, a 33-year-old whose U.S. Forest Service crew was among the first on the ground, figured he would bounce back from his nagging cough. But in June, while fighting another fire, he suddenly couldn’t breathe. At the hospital, doctors discovered blood clots in his lungs and a mass pressing on his heart. They gave him a diagnosis usually seen in much older people: non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive cancer.

.... Online forums for wildfire workers are crowded with appeals to help fund chemotherapy and radiation for young firefighters. These messages are often updated months later with death announcements and funeral details..."