SHARE YOUR STORY
Every statistic has a name.
Behind every number about firefighter cancer is a firefighter, a family, and a story that deserves to be told in their own words. This is where those stories live.
WHY THESE STORIES
The numbers tell you the scale. The stories tell you the cost.
Occupational cancer takes firefighters in the middle of ordinary life — between shifts, at kitchen tables, in the years after the last call. The statistics on this site describe how often it happens. These stories describe what it takes.
The Afterburn Foundation is new, and we have not served the families on this page. Their stories are not our results. They are our reason. Every story here is shared with permission, and the person who shared it approves the final words before they appear.
STORIES FROM THE FIRE SERVICE FAMILY
In their own words
The first stories are being gathered now.
If your family carries a story like these, we would be honored to hold it with care. Tell it in your own words below, and take your time. Nothing is published without your approval of the final version.
How sharing works
- STEP 01
Tell it in your words
Use the form below. Write as much or as little as you have in you today — we shape the story with you, not for you.
- STEP 02
You approve the final version
We prepare the story for this page and send it to you first. It is published only when you say yes.
- STEP 03
It stays yours
Your name shown your way. A photo only if you choose one. And if you ever ask us to take the story down, it comes down.
Stories show the need. Sponsorships answer it.
Every story on this page traces back to the same gap: the decontamination that removes most of this contamination from gear exists, and too many departments cannot afford it. You can help close that gap.
FOR SUPPORTERS
Sponsor a Firefighter
$500 provides one firefighter with a year of advanced decontamination access.
FOR DEPARTMENTS
Apply for Funding
If cost is the only thing between your firefighters and advanced decontamination, apply. That is what the fund is for.
The Afterburn Foundation · A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization · EIN: 41-3884896