A video released by an Arizona fire department speaks out by the dangers of tobacco use by featuring a firefighter who died last year from oral cancer after chewing tobacco sporadically for years.
“I’m here to hopefully scare you away from tobacco use,” late Tucson Fire Capt. Glenn Fleck says in the video, which is aimed at first responders. “Your fire department’s like a family. There’s nothing harder than having to tell your family that you have cancer.”
The nearly seven-minute video, which was posted on YouTube, goes on to chronicle Fleck's cancer treatments. Deputy Chief Darin Wallentine told KVOA-TV that Fleck hoped his experiences would send a message to other firefighters.
"It was his plea," Wallentine said. "He wanted to get the message out to please stop. We’re responding to calls that increase our chances of contracting cancer. This is one of those things that we can try to incentivize them to stop, so they can limit their chances of cancer through the use of tobacco.”
Wallentine told KVOA that he hopes the video and the message it delivers spreads to other fire departments in the country.