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The death of Battalion Chief Kevin Hawkins from mantle cell lymphoma in October of 2019 drove home the message that cancer, which is prevalent in the fire service, can strike even in small cities like Roanoke Rapids, Chief Jason Patrick said.

Now, due to a bill included in this year’s state budget, both volunteers and paid firefighters will receive insurance assistance should they be diagnosed with one of the 17 common forms of cancer specific to the service.

“Cancer has been a growing thing in the fire service for many years,” Patrick said Thursday.

Even before the death of Hawkins, preventive measures had long been put into place, he said.

There had been education of firefighters and what they could do to reduce the risk as well as let them know there was help. Someone recently diagnosed would be put with someone who had been through what the newly diagnosed firefighter was going through. “That way they could fill you in on what you may expect,” Patrick said.

Then there were changes in the way equipment was stored.

Fire station 1 on Roanoke Avenue was built 24 years ago and came with an exhaust removal system where a hose is attached to drive out noxious fumes.

‘The dirtier your gear’

Washing gear was at one time a rare occurrence. “You might do it once every six months or once a year. Dirty gear meant you were a hard worker and didn’t mind getting in there and working. Air packs — you might brush them off some but you didn’t really get in there and scrub them and clean them up good,” Patrick said.

“Years ago, the dirtier your gear was, the saltier you were,” said Richard Pulley, chief of the Darlington Volunteer Fire Department and an executive board member with the North Carolina State Firefighters’ Association. “You were the man. That’s gone away.”

There was a time, Patrick said, when firefighters would take their gear to their sleeping quarters. “But as studies have shown, those are things we quit doing.”

Now the fire department has a gear extractor and washer and dryer it received through a grant 10 years ago. That equipment is kept at station 2 and volunteer firefighters are allowed to clean their gear as well.

“Some of the things we’re doing is if we have a call and if we don’t have a whole set of gear to give out we at least give them a clean hood,” Pulley said.

Carcinogen-blocking hoods cost around $100.

Patrick said now, used air packs are placed in the back of a pickup and firefighters will scrub and wash them. “We’ve got extra air packs that we can put on the truck temporarily that are clean and that they can use until the others dry. It’s the same thing with the turnout gear. Once they get that soiled turnout gear dirty they come back here and get their spare set.”

One of the latest things the state is looking at is the use of AR AFFF foam which contains carcinogens, Patrick said. 

Roanoke Rapids has already switched to another foam that is supposed to be environmentally friendly. “What we’re working on now is the inventory on how much foam we have. They’re really cracking down on who's got it and how we’re going to dispose of it. We’re going to lock ours up and put it where nobody can get to it. When they come to do our ISO rating they’re going to check for that, too.”

The push for coverage

The push for firefighter cancer coverage was something that started around five to six years ago when Pulley went on the North Carolina State Firefighters board as eastern director. “As a state board we’ve been working on this policy with other groups. It’s just been an ongoing thing. The fire service is one of the highest occupations for cancer. It’s quite a bit more than the normal person’s chance of getting cancer.” 

In the case of Hawkins, the bill wasn’t in place at the time, Patrick said. “I do feel like that’s one reason why I have spent a lot of time in tracking this bill and talking to Richard and Representative (Michael) Wray about trying to get this bill through because of that. It hit home with Chief Hawkins. That was right here. That was somebody I rode the truck with. We spent time together doing other stuff so it did hit home.”

What pleases Patrick about the bill which is now in effect is what it does for volunteers who might not have sick leave like the city has. “Chief Hawkins was out for 14 months straight. Thankfully he had sick leave to be able to cover and help him pay his bills where if he had been somebody who didn’t have that or temporary disability they might not have been drawing anything. That’s why I’m just as excited from the volunteer standpoint as I am from the career standpoint.”

Pulley said the policy through VFIS is better than worker’s comp. “It is a cancer policy that is an insurance policy. The general assembly approved two years of paying the premiums on this  and we’re looking at other funding options to carry it on. It assists above and beyond any insurance that you already have.”

Coverage

Upon diagnosis of one of the 17 different cancers that it covers there’s a $25,000 payout. “You get that automatically once everything is approved,” Pulley said. “You can use this policy up to two times in your life up to $50,000. That is a lump sum payment. There’s also part of it that will help when you’re out of work.”

There’s a $12,000 max for reimbursement of cost and travel, out of pocket medical expenses including deductibles for any other policy. “Once it gets down to a total disability benefit if you’re a non-volunteer there’s 75 percent of your salary or $5,000 per month whichever is less that you’ll get for up to 36 months.” 

For a volunteer there is a $1,500 per month payment until they go back to work on their regular job. The benefit starts six months after the date of disability.

“Even if you’re a retired firefighter and still on the roster they’re still eligible for this as long as they have five years of consecutive service,” Pulley said.

Since the legislation went into effect in January there have been 10 inquiries into the policy across the state and two firefighters have already been paid, Pulley said. “It’s a big thing across the state of North Carolina. It’s very simple to get this policy started.”

Cutting close to home

Wray called the legislation “really important” and lawmakers were able to put it in place with an amendment in the state budget. “It was really important legislation that would help firefighters in the present and the future with situations dealing with cancer, in situations that will affect our family members and loved ones.”

Wray, who knew Hawkins, said, “It cuts really close to home because we had hometown hero Kevin Hawkins who was a lovable guy and served our community through fire and rescue and volunteering through Ducks Unlimited.”

Said Wray: “I knew Kevin Hawkins personally and anytime it affects anybody it’s important but it really touches you when you have somebody close to you as a friend and you see how it affects them and how hard they fight it. At the end of the day that was probably one of the most inspirational things for me.”

Wray said it was a good experience working with Pulley and Patrick on the matter.  “It affects our paid firefighters and our volunteer firefighters which are a big part of our communities. Firefighting is a very important thing. Nobody knows what they’re going into whether going into a car or a house. At the end of the day men and women are sacrificing their lives to save other people’s lives.”