Cancer research advocates Katie Coleman and Allison Miller. Firefighters ran into a burning building off of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard — not to rescue victims from smoke, but to raise money for research into a rare form of cancer. Around 45 first responders from around the country paid $275 a pop to participate in a simulated house fire staged in the name of curing cancer on Saturday morning. As they pulled 160-pound mannequins from controlled fumes in a specially engineered burn structure at the New Haven Fire Academy at 230 Ella T. Grasso Blvd., the crew also embarked on a mission to build attention and raise money towards fighting “chromophobe renal cell carcinoma,” a rare type of cancer affecting a local firefighter’s family. The cancer subtype, acronymized as chRCC, accounts for about 5 percent of all cases of kidney cancer identified every year. Five years ago, Allison Miller, the wife of 13-year New Haven Fire Department veteran Josh Miller, was diagnosed with the disease when she visited the doctor for apparent bladder issues after the delivery of her fourth child. This year, following the metastasizing of Allison’s cancer and an invasive surgery to remove spreading tumors, the Millers decided to foray into advocacy for the first time, leaning on the familial connections between firefighters to host a creative fundraiser for the understudied cancer. Tickets sold out in under two weeks.  “Thank you to my husband for staying by me in sickness and health,” Miller, 48, said in a brief speech to all those who turned out at 8 a.m. on Saturday, “and thank you to all the firefighters for helping save lives today and everyday. Today you might not be out on a job, but you’re helping support the lives of people battling with cancer.”  The attendees were all certified or voluntary firefighters, mostly former students or affiliates of Signal 73, a private firefighting training service founded and directed by Josh Miller out of New Haven. In exchange for donating to the cause, those firefighters received supplementary safety training in navigating the highly hazardous conditions of multi-alarm fires. Allison Miller was joined by Katie Coleman — the director of the Chromophobe and Oncocytic Tumor Alliance who traveled to New Haven from Columbus, Ohio, for the occasion (read her story here) — in setting fire to a stack of hay inside the New Haven academy’s burn building. After the “house” was thoroughly soaked with smoke, the firefighters split into teams to practice responding to the scene. Until 4 p.m., they were searching the smog-filled basement, first and second floors for prop humans in need of help; chainsawing holes into the roof to help smoke and toxins escape; breaking down doors; pulling hose out of truck beds; and army crawling through obstacle courses between scaling and sliding down ladders. Chainsawing the roof to release smoke. Obstacle course! “Fighting cancer is a lot harder than fighting fire. I love fighting fire — it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me other than my family,” Josh Miller told the Independent. “But fighting cancer just sucks.” One of the main differences between the two fights comes down to the issue of psychological certainty, Miller said. “Firemen like to be in control.” By rigorously training in fire safety, “we learn that we know what we need to do; we know we’re gonna put the fire out; we know we’re gonna rescue people.” Dealing with cancer, especially an enigmatic form like chRCC, is the antithesis of such assuredness: “This is the complete unknown. You don’t know what’s going to happen or what you can do.” When he found out his wife’s cancer had metastasized from the kidneys into her liver last May following an otherwise successful nephrectomy, Miller said, “I was so physically sick, I curled into a ball and laid down next to my dog.”  It’s through his dedication to the fire department that Miller ended up having well prepared his immediate family for such a health startle. As the acting assistant drill master in New Haven and owner/lead instructor of Signal 73, Miller said he’s always imparted the fire department’s philosophy of “brotherhood” — AKA, “the theory of teaching firemen that we’re all one, and we’re all together in this” — into every training session. That core belief behind his work, he said, is making all the difference now in his and his wife’s private world.  Beyond championing scientific research to diminish the human toll of chRCC, the New Haven Fire Department has supported those struggling with cancer through more direct means.  “Chief [Daniel] Coughlin has been on my corner since day one,” Miller said, recounting how his coworkers have helped him arrange shifts to accommodate picking up his daughter from school or taking his wife to doctors appointments. The Millers. The “brotherhood” referenced by the firefighters all day ranged from hyperlocal, intra-department relationships to cross-national, virtual connections.  “I took vacation from work to be here,” said Tim Hannigan of the Bridgeport Fire Department. He recalled his own father’s recent passing — Miller “came all the way to Greenwich to play the bagpipes.”  His reason for showing up Saturday was not just limited to “the cause and the connection.” It was informed by opportunity. “Actual fires don’t happen that often,” he said. “The chance to locate, confine and extinguish a fire” is, to a firefighter, “invaluable experience.” Miller noted that fires necessitating aid from the fire department have dramatically lowered in the last couple of decades, estimating them to be down from around 400 fires a year in the ‘90s to under 100 a year today thanks to better fire prevention technology and public education. Jimmy Lee: “If you’re not passing down your knowledge, you’re not doing your job.” For New York firefighter Jimmy Lee, 53, the fundraiser marked his return to firefighting-related work since he retired after finding out he had lung cancer back in February. Though he was trying to stay out of the way of all the smoke, he said, “I enjoy being able to share the knowledge I’ve gotten over the years — if you’re not passing down your knowledge, you’re not doing your job.” He’s worked with Josh Miller through Signal 73 in the past. Though he can’t work in toxic fires anymore, he can help prepare younger generations facing (fortunately) fewer chances for live practice. He was also there, in the wake of his Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis, to remind younger firefighters (and the general public) to go to the doctor and undergo regular cancer prevention screenings. He said he currently knows around ten to fifteen other firefighters actively struggling with cancer. “Everyone’s had a different type of cancer, but we can all come through thanks to the brotherhood to talk about it,” he said. “Everyone’s here for Josh’s wife.” Had he ever met Allison Miller before Saturday?  “Never. It doesn’t matter. You need help? You need volunteers? I’ll be there,” he stated.  Just as the harmony of humanity was put on display through the solidarity of brotherhood seen on Saturday, the sacrificial self-harm of saving lives was also shown. Kids were pushed away from the fire drill —  “you know how smoking cigarettes is really bad for you?” someone started to analogize to Miller’s six-year-old daughter as smoke billowed out of the building. Firefighters on the outskirts of the action tucked Zyns into their cheeks or sucked on cigars while others donned gas masks to run through the academy’s hell-hot hallways. “I love cigars, but I don’t smoke anymore,” Lee weighed in as he popped a chemotherapy pill. “It’s a social thing — smoking a cigar and talking about the fire you just came back from,” Lee observed. Raising $12,000 in one day through fire drills and donations was also a “social thing.” That money will go towards a campaign launched by the Chromophobe and Oncocytic Tumor Alliance to advance chromophobe research, which has separately raised $32,737. You can contribute here. Because relatively so few people contract this form of cancer, there’s little attention or seed data about the disease to apply for and achieve the kind of grant money that advocates like Miller and Coleman say are necessary to further information about the cause. This latest fund facilitated by COA is a grassroots circumvention of that problem. Zachary Yochum, a medical oncologist fellow at Yale, explained that the majority of research surrounding this cancer is focusing on figuring out how to alter the structure of tumors affiliated with the cancer within patients in order to facilitate immunotherapy options that are currently impossible. Allison Miller, for instance, has been combatting her cancer almost exclusively through invasive surgeries, including a nephrectomy. She has donated all of the excavated tissue and tumors taken from her to lab research.  Allison Miller noted that when her doctor presented her diagnosis, she said: “I haven’t found this in 25 years of practice.” Miller has found community around her rare condition primarily online; through a Facebook group called “Coffee with Chromies,” she’s met allies like Katie Coleman, as well as people suffering from the cancer in countries like England and Australia. Coleman’s visit to New Haven Saturday marked an in-person connection for two people otherwise isolated by unique health challenges and uncommon distance between them; the 40-odd firefighters buying into the event symbolized a sustained institutional commitment to community, no matter the challenge.   Miller spoke in universal terms for those fighting against cancer: “There’s always good days and bad days,” he said. “Today’s a good day.” The firefighters not dressed up in gas masks smoked cigars while giving feedback on drill operations. The post Firefighters Fight Fire, Cancer appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less