Firefighters put their lives on the line every day.
Because of the things they are exposed to, they have a higher chance at getting cancer.
Because of this, fire stations are starting to make changes.
WMAR-2 News traveled to Howard County and Baltimore County to see what they're doing.
"We have fire wipes that we utilize on the scene. We have processes that we have to go through to remove contaminates off of us before we remove our turn off gear off," said Perry Hall Fire Captain John Cooke.
Cooke says they wash their fire gear in the extractor.
The extractor is a washer machine that is designed to clean off the contaminates from the uniform.
"A lot of these cancers are over time, so the simple steps we take now, can prevent over time things from occurring," said Cooke.
Over in Howard County, they are doing similar things to ensure their members are safe.
"We know that statistically, firefighters have a nine percent chance of developing cancer and a 14 percent mortality rate," said Deputy Chief Tavon Claggett from HCDFRS
HCDFR's newest station was designed with cancer prevention in mind.
Over at Fire Station 12 in Waterloo, their gear room is ventilated to keep the contaminates off it.
They also have an extractor used to clean off their gear.
Claggett says back in the day firefighters used to keep gear near where they slept.
However, he says they no longer do that.
The goal is to keep their fire gear separate from where they sleep and eat.
Claggett has met firefighters who have gotten cancer. So for him, this is personal.