Andy Brunelle used to worry about getting burned.
The 54-year-old firefighter in Phoenix with nearly 20 years on the job worried about the same things his buddies did — falling through a roof, getting trapped in a burning building. Unusual workplace hazards were the norm in his business, and he was vigilant.
“The whole cancer thing was not on the radar,” he said.
It is now.
Brunelle is fighting leukemia, which affects the blood and bone marrow. And his workers’ compensation claim was denied despite his condition being among those that are supposed to be presumed a result of his work.
In 2017, the Legislature passed a bill to expand the list of cancers that are legally presumed to be a result of firefighters’ workplace conditions.