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Citing increased risks, State Legislature passes bill providing disability benefits for volunteer firefighters with cancer

An exhausted firefighter rests his head outside a home damaged in the Manorville wildfire in April 2012. File photo: Peter Blasl

The State Legislature has sent a bill to Gov. Andrew Cuomo that would provide volunteer firefighters who develop certain forms of cancer with enhanced disability benefits.

A volunteer firefighter is eligible if he or she:

  • has served at least five years as an interior firefighter. Passage of the mask fit test is required for the interior firefighter rating;
  • passed a physical examination upon entrance into the volunteer service; and
  • has a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in any part of the body or a malignant growth or tumor affecting the lymphatic or hematological systems or digestive, urinary, prostate, neurological, breast or reproductive systems or melanoma.

Volunteer firefighters who meet the criteria will be eligible for disability benefits of a lump-sum payment of $6,250 or $25,000, depending on severity. In the case of total disability, the volunteer firefighter will be eligible to receive a monthly payment of $1,500 payable up to 36 consecutive months. In the case of death, the volunteer firefighter’s family will be eligible for an accidental death benefit in the amount of $50,000.

Currently, there are no health or disability protections afforded to volunteer firefighters outside of what is currently allowed for under
the disability provisions in the volunteer firefighters’ benefit law, which provides a totally disabled firefighter with up to $600 per month in disability benefits.

A series of studies over the last several years have been published linking higher cancer rates to firefighters due to carcinogenic substances burning in an interior fire, according to the bill text. While the effectiveness of firefighter training has improved, and cancer awareness as well as prevention techniques have been highlighted, there is still a higher rate of cancer among interior firefighters, according to the bill.

The bill would require all fire districts to provide an enhanced cancer disability benefit insurance program for each eligible volunteer firefighter.

“Our volunteer firefighters do so much for our communities and put their lives on the line every day,” Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) said in a press release. Palumbo and Assemblyman Fred Thiele were among numerous cosponsors of the bill in the Assembly. “It is important to be able to give back to them for their service and protect them from any hardships they may face because of exposure to hazardous carcinogens while protecting our families,” Palumbo said.

The legislature did not provide an estimate of fiscal implications to the local fire districts, which must cover the cost of the disability insurance policies.

If signed into law by the governor, bill would take effect Jan. 1, 2019.

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Denise Civiletti
Denise is a veteran local reporter and editor, an attorney and former Riverhead Town councilwoman. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including a “writer of the year” award from the N.Y. Press Association in 2015. She is a founder, owner and co-publisher of this website.