Objective

Fire fighter occupational cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in the fire service. That’s why the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), in partnership with the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN), launched Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month – an annual campaign designed to educate, empower, and drive real change across the fire service.

The goal is a bold one: We’re working toward a future where no fire fighter is diagnosed with cancer because of their critical service to their community.

To do that, our integrated communications campaign during Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month focuses on raising awareness among fire fighters and the public, providing resources to help fire fighters mitigate their cancer risk, and advancing legislative and policy changes to support fire fighters with cancer.

Strategy

To deliver a consistent, month-long campaign with national reach and local relevance, we built Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month around four weekly themes. Each focused on a different way to reduce cancer risks on the fireground, at the fire station, and in our personal lives. This framework provided structure for messaging, resource development, and fire fighter engagement throughout January.

Our campaign was integrated across communication channels:

• We launched a dedicated webpage housing all campaign resources: fact sheets, videos, toolkits, survivor stories, weekly calls to action, and more.
• Our digital toolkit offered shareable social media graphics, talking points, a draft press release, and other content for our affiliate leaders to extend the campaign’s reach at the local level.
• We used social media to drive weekly, sharing custom-designed graphics, carousels, and short-form videos that highlighted survivor stories, cancer facts, and tangible actions fire fighters could take.
• And, because our union represents members in the U.S. and Canada, our materials were available in both English and French Canadian – helping amplify our messaging in languages our members and communities speak.
• We secured national and local coverage in print, radio, and television raising awareness about occupational cancer in the fire service.
• We introduced a new Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month logo that helped visually unify the campaign. It appeared on every asset, creating a cohesive identity that members recognized. Affiliates used the logo to brand their own outreach, further reinforcing the campaign’s presence across North America.

With over 355,000 members in two countries, one of our biggest challenges was making sure the campaign felt unified without being one-size-fits-all. We wanted every IAFF affiliate – no matter their size or resources – to participate in Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month in a way that worked for them. This is where our customizable content came in handy, giving local leaders the flexibility to speak to their members and communities while staying aligned with the broader campaign.

Whether someone read a survivor story, scrolled past a graphic, opened an email, or signed our advocacy banner, they were hearing the same core message. All of this made it easier for fire fighters to take action, have conversations, and reduce their risks of occupational cancer.

Results

Our campaign met its primary goals of raising awareness, equipping fire fighters with the information they need to make a difference in their lives, and helping affiliate leaders bring attention to the issue at the local level.

Throughout January, we tracked 872 news stories across print, TV, radio, and online platforms – an average of 28 stories per day. This coverage helped highlight the urgency of occupational cancer and brought the fire service perspective into broader public conversations about workplace health and safety.

Social media also performed well. Posts from @IAFFofficial generated over 150,000 impressions and more than 4,000 engagements. Survivor spotlights and prevention tips drove the highest interaction rates, reinforcing the value of personal storytelling and clear, shareable guidance.

Media