VIDEO: Mikey Riley has been with the Asheville Fire Department for just over 15 years. Just within the past few years of his time there, Riley said he's been personally impacted by the loss of active and retired firefighters due to occupational cancer.
The Asheville Fire Department has lost four active members in the last four to five years due to occupational cancer, according to Riley, which he plans to use as motivation on Saturday, April 22. "Unless we do something about it, there’s going to be a number five and six over the next couple of years," Riley said. "So we want to do everything we can to decrease those numbers and not have this continue. I’m going to run for 24 hours. I’ve run 12 or 13 hours before, but 24 hours is going to be a different beast.”