Hundreds of firefighters will be in Richmond on Tuesday to raise awareness about the risk of occupational cancer.
Firefighters are at a higher risk – about twice as much – of developing cancer associated with their jobs than that the average person.
Firefighters from across the state, from Virginia Beach to Bristol, are expected to take place in a 2-mile “Walk the Line” march from fire station 13 in Richmond to the Virginia Public Safety Memorial.
Advocates wants brain, colon and testicular cancers added to the list of seven existing cancers covered by Virginia’s presumptive law.
The Virginia Professional Firefighters Association will meet at 9 a.m. in hopes of prompting the General Assembly to amend the current law.
“We’ve had firefighters with spinal cancer, bladder cancer,” Mike Wise, a battalion chief from Bristol, said. “Every kind of cancer that’s out there, we have high numbers in this fire department, and we are doing everything that we can on the local level.”