We’ve all seen the romanticized pictures on TV shows like “Fire Country” and “Chicago Fire,” and in movies such as “Only the Brave,” and “Backdraft.” Firefighters emerge backlit by a conflagration, their gear blackened from smoke, faces smudged with ash, the char a kind of glorified warpaint. Whether exposed to soot or other airborne particles floating in the air, firefighters come into contact with an untold number of chemicals, some benign and others carcinogenic. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, “epidemiologic studies have found an elevated risk for skin cancer among firefighters.” These include basal and squamous…