TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo Firefighters Local 92 union recently put up a sign claiming cancer is the No. 1 cause of death for firefighters. The claim is backed up by the International Association of Fire Fighters, which is the larger labor union Local 92 belongs to.
With exposure to toxic chemicals and smoke being an everyday part of the job, firefighters are two times as likely to get cancer than people in other lines of work, Local 92 President Matt Tabb claimed. For firefighters like Lt. Jen Hill, who was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2019 but is currently in remission, she said the diagnosis feels like the floor is falling out from under her.
"I mean I spent many weeks when I was first diagnosed thinking, 'okay this is it, I'm gonna die,'" Hill said. "You think about your kids, and your family and all that kind of stuff."
Ohio's cancer presumption law states any firefighter disabled by cancer "under certain circumstances" is presumed to have incurred cancer from the job.
The law further states the firefighter must have been assigned to at least six years of hazardous duty and "exposed to an agent classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 or 2A carcinogen."
But despite injury pay being part of their collective bargaining agreement, the city of Toledo has denied that request for years.
"Initially, I had to appeal it, (workers' compensation) denied it, the city did not agree on that at first," Hill said.
This forced cancer-stricken firefighters to rely on sick leave. And once that ran out, they had to rely on their co-workers' donated sick leave.
While the city has since changed its position and now approves workers' compensation for cancer, the sick leave and vacation time are still gone. Tabb said he's fighting to get it back.
"We're drawing attention to the fact that this is a decision the city needs to make, needs to move forward on and they need to take care of their firefighters," he said.
Tabb said the solution for current workers is simple and free: replenish the hours they sacrificed during their treatments. But, he said for former employees who had to fight the battle with no help, the city should cut them a check for the time lost.
"So, we need to make (Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz) aware he needs to get down from 30,000 feet and take care of what needs to be taken care of," Tabb said.
WTOL 11 reached out to the Mayor's office for a statement on the matter Thursday and received no response.
Tabb said having seen friends and family in the department struggle with cancer for years, he will continue fighting for the firefighters of Local 92 long into the future.