Kentucky firefighters are seeking legislative approval to include certain cancers as cause for issuing death benefits to surviving family members. The measure, which allows for an $80,000 death benefit from the state, passed out of a Senate committee last week.
Chris Bartley represents Lexington’s firefighter union. Bartley says previous proposals sought assistance through workers compensation. “And we decided to just try to do the death benefit to get recognition for these firefighters and their families," he said. "So that’s why we went at this bill and then, once the audit’s done, once the budget’s been stabilized a little bit, we’ll see where we go further on it."
Bartley says some 35 states across the U.S. have taken some form of action related to firefighter cancer deaths. He says three different studies have shown an increase in the rate of certain digestive and reproductive cancers in firefighters.
