PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Firefighters from across Pennsylvania rallied in Harrisburg on Monday to show support for legislation that would fund regular cancer screenings for both career and volunteer firefighters.
Joe Ciresi, a Montgomery County Democrat and the prime sponsor of the bill, said making sure firefighters have access to cancer screenings with no out-of-pocket expenses is a way for legislators to show they care.
“To show their families that we’re thinking about them,” he said, “and to make sure all Pennsylvanians know how much we, as this body, this government here in the House of Representatives, care about our firefighters.”
Ciresi’s bill would establish a fund to cover annual cancer screenings.
Montgomery County State Rep. Greg Scott, who is also a volunteer firefighter in Norristown, said early detection is key.
“And making sure that costs don’t stand between a firefighter and the care that they need,” he said. “No firefighter should have to choose between protecting their families’ finances or protecting their own life.”
Heart attacks were the biggest concern when Scott started volunteer firefighting 20 years ago. Now, with so many synthetics in homes today, cancer has become one of the primary causes of firefighter deaths.
“The typical house fire today is full of synthetic materials, plastics, chemicals that release dangerous toxins into the air when they burn,” he explained. “It gets in our gear, it gets in our skin, and it gets into our lungs.”
Ciresi pointed to research that shows firefighters have a 9% higher risk of a cancer diagnosis compared to the general public and are 14% more likely to die from cancer.
The bill now heads to the State Senate after passing the State House with strong bipartisan support.
