For many years the bureaucracy of local government has blinded mayors and city councils from cancer in the fire service. But not for Peoria Mayor Cathy Carlat. She took the podium Friday morning to honor fallen Peoria fire Capt. David Rehkne. The 59-year-old lost his battle with occupational cancer earlier this month after a near 10-year battle with the disease he contracted as a result of his job. “Even after a lifetime of service he spent his retirement, his final years not only fighting an unrelenting disease but petitioning endlessly for the safety and security of the current and future firefighting families,” Carlat said. Rehnke served 30 years with the Peoria Fire Department before he was forced to retire due to his renal cell carcinoma, the most common form of kidney cancer found in adults.