Providence Fire Chief George S. Farrell

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE — Fire Chief George S. Farrell has leukemia.

The third-generation Providence firefighter was diagnosed a few weeks ago, during the department’s mandatory physical exams — a new annual requirement meant to monitor the health and well-being of the city’s nearly 500 firefighters.

Farrell, 52, is known throughout the fire service and in Rhode Island political circles as being smart, savvy and driven, and he has confidence that he can deal with this. When he talks about fighting cancer, he sounds like a firefighter rolling up to a dangerous blaze: What is it we have and how do we mitigate it?

“For me now, it’s: What do I have? What can I do? And, what’s next?” said Farrell, who plans to stay on the job.

“What’s next for me is where I am right now — do everything I can to do the best job I can, to ensure the people of this city are safe,” he said.

The irony is that Farrell has talked about annual health screenings for firefighters for at least a decade, going back to when he was union president. He even included language in two proposed contracts in 2002 regarding disability coverage for firefighters with cancer, but the union rejected both contracts.

The Providence Fire Department started requiring annual physical exams for its firefighters last year. After Farrell was sworn in as chief on April 30, he and Mayor David N. Cicilline and the mayor’s staff began discussing plans for disability pensions for firefighters who develop cancer on the job. State law says any firefighter who develops a disabling occupational cancer is entitled to occupational cancer disability.

Some recent research has found that firefighters are more likely to develop certain types of cancer, including leukemia, because of their exposure to carcinogenic toxins at fire scenes and even in diesel exhaust from fire trucks. The issue is complex, taking into consideration personal medical history as well as occupational, but Farrell said he was hoping to work out an agreement with Cicilline and the union.

“A few days later, it was me,” Farrell said. “It went from having conversations, to being me.”

FARRELL HAS stage 1 chronic myelogenous leukemia, a slowly progressing blood cancer that creates too many white blood cells in the bone marrow. This type of leukemia is due to the growth of an abnormal clone of cells containing a chromosome rearrangement known as the “Philadelphia chromosome,” which Farrell said he was told he has. If left untreated, the white blood cells can increase so much that they impeded blood flow and cause severe anemia. About 4,570 new cases of chronic myelogenous leukemia are expected to be diagnosed in the United States this year, according to the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society.

This week, Farrell will find out whether any of his six sisters are a match for a bone-marrow transplant. If not, he’ll hope for a match through the National Marrow Donor Program. Meanwhile, he’s being treated with Gleevec, a medicine that essentially puts the cancer into remission. It’s a control, not a cure.

Farrell was diagnosed on Aug. 24, three days after his blood was drawn, and the exact type of leukemia was known by Labor Day weekend. He’d had some symptoms this summer, losing 20 pounds over six weeks, feeling fatigued and achy, but he attributed it all to beginning his new job as chief of the department, where he’d served for 26 years.

Farrell had risen through the ranks to become city fire marshal before leaving a year ago to head the state fire marshal’s office. Statewide, he is known for his former work on the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review and on the Rhode Island Joint Building and Fire Rehabilitation Code Board. He was one of the architects of the fire and safety codes for building rehabilitation.

But becoming Providence fire chief was the pinnacle. “I’ve got a great wife, great daughters, and I’m chief of the Providence Fire Department,” Farrell said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

On Monday, the mayor offered Farrell his support. “He’s an extraordinary chief and a really talented and courageous individual,” Cicilline said. “My first concern is for him and his family and making sure we support him in every way we can.”

Police Chief Dean M. Esserman, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in October 2005, also offered his help, Farrell said. The two public safety chiefs for the city have ended up in an unusual situation.

“To a lot of people, you are the one they rely on,” Farrell said. “But it brings it back to reality. I’m just like everyone else.”

Farrell said he is staying out of the city’s disability discussions now because he doesn’t want to be “the poster boy.” Councilman Miguel Luna recently drafted an ordinance with the firefighters union that would offer an accidental disability retirement pension for firefighters with cancer. It was raised before Farrell decided to go public with his illness.

Farrell has a close-knit family — he and his wife, Jane, have two daughters — and the diagnosis was a jarring reminder of how quickly life can change.

“I’m going to live my life, no matter what this is,” Farrell said. “This isn’t going to take my life away from me.”

amilkovi@projo.com