Firehouse Cancer Supplement – Survivor Story: Assistant Fire Marshal Ian “Lance” Dahl
Assistant Fire Marshal Ian “Lance” Dahl has been with the Spokane, WA, Fire Department for 23 years. In February 2017, he was diagnosed with colon cancer. He has been cancer free since July 2018.
In this video, Dahl shares that when he first got the diagnosis, everything stopped and he started to reflect on how he got to that point. He explains his motivation for staying positive throughout his cancer battle and what he wants future generations of firefighters to know about the risks they face on the job: “I really want them to look at the direction the fire service is going—to help protect themselves, and use the best practices that have been generated and incorporate those into their daily life at the fire station. Washing their gear after fires. We used to believe dirty gear was cool, and now we know it’s not. Dirty gear has led to off-gassing and carcinogens that we end up absorbing into our body. Getting into those best practices—washing gear, not having gear in the truck, making sure your department is using an exhaust system and taking those exhaust gases from our diesel trucks out of the station. That’s the stuff I really want everyone to take away and help lessen those risks that we face on a daily basis.”
Firehouse thanks our Keystone Sponsor, MSA, and all our Cornerstone Sponsors for helping fund this project to better inform you about one of the most dangerous parts of the job.
