San Jose Fire Fighters

01/16/2026

🎉 We’re proud to celebrate the graduation of Firefighter Recruit Academy Class 25-02 tomorrow—and to welcome 21 new firefighters as they prepare to serve and protect San José starting this Sunday.

If you’d like to watch the graduation ceremony and show your support, you can tune in via Zoom on Friday, January 16, at 11 a.m.
▶Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/SJFD2502

01/14/2026

HOW IS CANCER RELATED TO FIREFIGHTING?
A number of published scientific studies suggest a link between firefighting and the development of cancer. Thesestudies are considered to be foundational for demonstrating that fire fighters are at a greater risk for cancer than
the general population due to fire fighters’ routine exposure to carcinogenic smoke, soot, and other products of combustion.
These studies all included multiple fire fighters from different departments, and some include multiple countries. As a whole, they examined both the mortality (risk of death) and incidence (risk of developing) cancer.

ɀ Cancer Risk Among Career Male and Female Florida Firefighters: Evidence from the Florida Firefighter Cancer
Registry (1981-2014), Lee et al., 2020
ɀ Cancer Incidence and Mortality Among Fire Fighters, Jalilian, et al., 2019
ɀ Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Fire Fighters: A State-of-the-Art Review and Meta- Analysis, Soteriades, et al.,
2019
ɀ Mortality in a Cohort of US Fire Fighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia: an Update, Pinkerton, et
al., 2019
ɀ Exposure-Response Relationships for Select Cancer and Non-Cancer Health Outcomes in a Cohort of Fire
Fighters from San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia (1950-2009), Daniels, et al., 2015
ɀ Mortality and Cancer Incidence in a Pooled Cohort of US Fire Fighters from San Francisco, Chicago and
Philadelphia (1950-2009), Daniels, et al., 2014
ɀ Cancer Risk Among Fire Fighters: A Review and Meta-Analysis of 32 Studies, LeMasters, et al., 2006

The Pinkerton study identified that fire fighters have a 9% greater chance of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% greater chance of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population.
These studies show evidence that fire fighters are at a higher risk for developing certain cancers. This means their risk of developing cancer is higher than those in the general population. For example, when data shows that fire fighters face a 1.53 times greater risk for multiple myeloma compared to those who aren’t fire fighters, this means for every 100 people who contract multiple myeloma, 153 fire fighters contract the disease.

01/13/2026

01/09/2026

CALL TO ACTION 🚨

San Jose already has the lowest-staffed metropolitan fire department in the nation. Cutting public safety is not an option.

📞 Call or email your City Councilmember
📞 Call or email the Mayor’s Office

Let them know:
• Cutting MED30 puts our firefighters and our community at risk
• Council already voted to restore MED30 — that vote must be honored
• Emergency medical coverage saves lives, and delays cost lives

We are asking City leadership to do the right thing.
Bring back MED30 now.

01/08/2026

San Jose officials have quietly killed a firefighter drug oversight program just days after reinstating it. This comes after a paramedic drug theft scandal exposed patients to tampered narcotics and sparked backlash against funding cuts that originally dissolved the initiative.

01/07/2026

San Jose closed Med30 — again.

After City Council directed funding to keep Med30 in service, City Administration has once again shut down this critical public safety resource mid-year, citing “budgetary concerns.” This decision was made without a vote of the City Council.

That is deeply troubling.

Across the Bay Area, our brothers and sisters in Oakland and San Francisco are facing similar budget challenges — yet they have chosen to add to public safety, not cut it. Meanwhile, San Jose call volumes continue to rise as we prepare to host major global events like the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2026.

Closing Med30 puts our community and first responders at risk.

San Jose Fire Fighters will always show up to protect our city and our neighbors — but it should never come at the expense of public safety.

With a new first responder fee taking effect January 1, those funds should be used to support emergency services — not diverted to the general fund.

Public safety deserves transparency, accountability, and a seat at the table.

SafetyFirst

01/07/2026

(KRON) — San Jose firefighters are sounding the alarm after the city eliminated what firefighters call “a lifesaving position.” The city is citing budget issues for the cut, but t…