Latest deaths of Ground Zero responders shows need for Zadroga Act extension, FDNY union head says
Retired New York City Fire Dept. member Daniel
Heglund was one of three retired FDNY firefighters who died on the same
day, Monday, Sept. 23, 2014, from cancer contracted at Ground Zero. The
other two who died Monday are retired Lt. Howard (Howie) Bischoff and
retired firefighter Robert Leaver. (Credit: FDNY)
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The deaths of four Ground Zero first responders
from cancer and leukemia in recent days underscore the need for Congress
to extend medical benefits for those who worked on the pile and later
got sick, the head of an FDNY firefighters union said Thursday.
"We were domestic soldiers on that day when America was brought to its knees," said James Lemonda, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854 at a news conference in Manhattan to update the list of firefighters who have died or become ill since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"We were domestic soldiers on that day when America was brought to its knees," said James Lemonda, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854 at a news conference in Manhattan to update the list of firefighters who have died or become ill since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Lemonda vowed to push
Washington, D.C., legislators to extend the James Zadroga 9/11 Health
and Compensation Act beyond its expiration date in 2016. The act
provides medical treatment and health insurance coverage to first
responders who cleared debris and searched for victims at Ground Zero
amid toxic dust and fumes from the smoldering rubble.
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"We will be asking elected officials in
Washington to put aside their bipartisan politics and remember those who
helped America on that day," Lemonda said.
Since the attacks, 92
members of the firefighter association have died and 875 have been
diagnosed with 9/11-linked illnesses, union officials said. Of those
diagnosed, 80 members' illnesses are at the critical stage and 177 are
in remission, they said. Another 280 members are in the early stages of
their illnesses and 25 are being tested to confirm whether their work at
the World Trade Center is linked to them getting sick, according the
union leaders.
On Saturday, retired FDNY
Lt. John Gremse of Long Beach was buried after losing his battle with
colon cancer. Gremse, who grew up in Valley Stream, was 64.
"His prognosis was good,
but in May the cancer spread to his mouth and liver," said his longtime
friend Deputy Chief Paul Ferro of Division 13 in Queens.
Ferro described Gremse as "as an avid softball player, swimmer and surfer."
Two days later, three
FDNY firefighters died. Esophageal cancer took the life of retired
firefighter Daniel Heglund, 58, of Rocky Point, according to union
officials. He was a member of Rescue 4 Ladder 33 in Woodside, Queens.
Firefighter Robert E.
Leaver, 56, of Engine Company 202 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, died of
leukemia Monday. Retired Lt. Howard Bischoff, 58, of Ladder 149 in
Brooklyn died of colon cancer.
Lemonda said the deaths have shaken association members "concerned as to what is going to happen to them in the future."
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