FIRE Cancer Act of 2025
Key claim: The FIRE Cancer Act of 2025 would expand FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to fund cancer prevention (including multi-cancer early detection testing) for firefighting personnel and establish a joint FEMA–CDC research program using voluntarily shared anonymized preventive-testing results to study firefighter cancer trends and causes.
Abstract
(HR1610 · 119th Congress) Firefighter Investments to Recognize Exposure to Cancer Act of 2025 or the FIRE Cancer Act of 2025 This bill expands the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Assistance to Firefighters Grant program for fire departments and emergency medical services organizations to include cancer prevention programs (e.g., multi-cancer early detection testing) for firefighting personnel. It also establishes a joint cancer research program between FEMA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through which firefighting personnel may voluntarily share the anonymized results of preventative cancer testing so the CDC can study trends or causes of cancer in such personnel. Latest action (2025-02-26): Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Why this matters
Firefighters face elevated occupational cancer risks from repeated exposure to combustion byproducts and hazardous materials, but employer and grant funding for routine early-detection screening is limited. By channeling cancer prevention—including multi-cancer early detection tests—through the existing FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant program and pairing it with a FEMA–CDC research collaboration, the bill would expand what employers and departments can offer as an occupational health benefit while building a federal evidence base on firefighter cancer causation.