LA County Fire Crew Chief on Mission to Help Firefighters After Cancer Diagnosis
By Spectrum News Staff Los Angeles
PUBLISHED 7:37 PM ET Oct. 07, 2019
LOS ANGELES — LA Stories with Giselle Fernandez profiles Mike Dubron, a 28-year career veteran with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, serving as an Air Operations Firefighter-Paramedic Crew Chief.
LACoFD Air Operations conducts aerial firefighting and makes difficult, often life-saving, air rescues protecting the 10 million residents of L.A. County.
Dubron has gained a following on social media for sharing up-close and personal videos of the LAcoFD Air Ops teams in action.
During last year’s Woolsey Fire, his videos went viral giving viewers an up-close look at the battle and bravery taking place in our SoCal backyards.
Dubron is also the founder of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network.
In 2003, at age 39, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer and was given one to three years to live.
Dubron not only beat cancer, but he came back from it determined to use his life-leveling experience for the greater good.
After a nine-month absence for his health battle, he returned to the department and established the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN).
FCSN is a global nonprofit that provides assistance, comfort, cancer awareness, and education to firefighters—with a long-term goal to greatly minimize the multiple toxic exposures that massively increase firefighters’ risk of being diagnosed with cancer.
FCSN shares many shocking statistics. Among them is that since 2002, almost two out of three firefighters who die in the line of duty die of cancer.
In addition, 61 percent of firefighters who die in the line of duty do not die fighting fires; they die from cancer.
Thanks to Dubron’s founding of FCSN, firehouses across the globe are adopting new firefighting practices to minimize life-threatening toxic exposures while in the line of duty.