VIDEO: They risk their lives for us in more ways than one. In 2018, KSAT began reporting on the firefighter-cancer connection. In the seven years since, there have been extensive changes to firefighting protocols at the San Antonio Fire Department. SAFD Lt. Isaac Alvarado has experienced those changes firsthand. Twenty-three years ago, Alvarado began serving the fire department in several capacities: fighting fires, driving trucks, working EMS and in the Fusion command center. About seven years ago, Alvarado said he had to slow down. “May of 2018 was when I was diagnosed, and it was a gut punch when it happened,” Alvarado said. “I have multiple myeloma, which is a blood cancer. It’s fairly common in firefighters.” Since then, Alvarado has received some form of chemotherapy.
