Carthage firefighters are asking village leaders to stand by them. That's because the village board wrote a letter to the state opposing a bill that would help volunteer firefighters with the cost of fighting cancer. Dozens of firefighters and supporters came in trucks -- and even a bus -- and walked into the village board meeting to convince lawmakers to support the bill. The bill only needs the governor's signature to become a law that would help select volunteer firefighters get disability benefits if they get cancer. The village board's reason for opposing it, as firefighters learned during the meeting, had to do with who would pay for it..