Chief Leader – September 30, 2014
by SARAH DORSEY
Like 850 of their fellow firefighters who worked on the Pile after Sept. 11, FDNY veterans Daniel “Sam” Heglund, Robert Leaver and Howard Bischoff became ill after breathing in the highly-toxic World Trade Center dust.
On Sept. 22, their paths converged again: the three men, each in his late fifties, each stricken with a different type of 9/11-related cancer, died from their conditions on the same day.
Childhood Friends
Firefighter Leaver, 56, and Lieutenant Bischoff, 58, grew up together in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and remained close friends throughout their lives. Mr. Leaver retired from Engine Co. 202 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, after 20 years on the job, and Mr. Bischoff was a 19-year veteran when he retired from Ladder Co. 149 in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.
Firefighter Heglund, 58, worked for 21 years before retiring from Rescue 4 in Woodside, Queens with esophageal cancer that eventually spread to his bones. Mr. Leaver and Mr. Bischoff died of leukemia and colon cancer, respectively.
Uniformed Fire Officers Association President James Lemonda told reporters at a press conference Sept. 25 that he hoped the three men’s deaths would remind Congress that Sept. 11 health issues are as relevant as ever.
This month, members of the New York Congressional delegation introduced U.S. House and Senate bills to extend the Zadroga Act, the 2011 legislation that established a medical monitoring and treatment program for those sickened in the attacks. That law also reopened the Victim Compensation Fund, which provides economic help for medical costs and lost wages. The medical treatment is set to end in October 2015, and the VCF in October 2016. If passed, the extension would last 25 years, until 2041.
“When we responded, we were told, ‘The air is safe. Don’t worry.’ But we knew differently,” Mr. Lemonda said, speaking of the bravery of first-responders, almost none of whom were outfitted with adequate protective masks when they first got to the Trade Center.
‘Patriotism, Not Politics’
“Now we’re asking our elected officials in Washington to set aside their partisan politics,” he later continued, calling Sept. 11 recovery work “a patriotic act.”
“And I’m asking them to be as brave as the people who responded on that day. Let’s pass this legislation, let’s extend this legislation, and let’s help those Americans who helped our fellow Americans on that day.”
Uniformed Firefighters Association President Stephen J. Cassidy, who fought for a seat on the committee that advises Zadroga officials on which health conditions should be covered, said it’s “almost unimaginable” that three would die on one day.
“We can’t undo the tragedy of Sept 11,” he said in an interview. “…But we certainly can make a full-court press to Congress to make sure they realize that they have an obligation—a moral obligation—to continue to fund Zadroga to take care of these sick firefighters while they’re alive and to take care of their families when they pass.”
‘An American Issue’
Mr. Lemonda noted that many more firefighters and other first-responders are gravely ill; some are currently in hospice care for Sept. 11-related illnesses. Although he acknowledged that the city’s Congressional delegation worked hard for the first Zadroga Act, he seemed to anticipate the challenge they’ll face pushing a spending bill past fiscal conservatives in the House of representatives.
“This is not just a firefighter issue,” he said. “This is an American issue. We were domestic soldiers that day that we were attacked.”
The law squeaked to U.S. Senate passage just days before the end of the 2010 legislative session, and had to be shortened considerably to please fiscal conservatives concerned about its cost. The money set aside for Sept. 11 victims was shrunk from a proposed $7.4 billion to $4.3 billion.
When asked about the tough fight in 2010 and the battle ahead, Mr. Cassidy said, “There were some in Congress who were concerned, I think legitimately, about how much money the government spends…I’m not going to have a debate with them.”
But officials from nearly every state jockeyed for Department of Homeland Security money after the attacks to beef up local security measures and police and fire departments, he said.
“All of them had their hand out. They can’t have their hand out for that money and then say that New York City firefighters who already did what needed to be done don’t deserve to be taken care of,” Mr. Cassidy said.
He speculated that renewed worries about terrorism from ISIS might have an effect, prompting a less-complacent response from Congress.
Peace for the Dying
Michael Barasch, an attorney whose firm represents thousands of people sickened on Sept. 11, said Victim Compensation Fund Special Master Sheila Birnbaum has paid special attention to those like the three firefighters who died last week.
Bureaucratic difficulties initially slowed the rate at which VCF awards were announced, though the process has begun to pick up speed. Ms. Birnbaum has been sensitive about putting the handful of patients with terminal illnesses, including Mr. Bischoff, “ahead in line,” Mr. Barasch said, so that they at least know their families will be taken care of after they die.
Nearly $500 million in VCF funds has been awarded so far to 1,843 claimants, including 159 cancer patients. More than 30,000 people are registered with the World Trade Center Health Program, and 92 former firefighters have died of Sept. 11-related illnesses.
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