Firefighter benefits bill garners support
BENTONVILLE — A bill inspired by a Northwest Arkansas firefighter who died of cancer drew strong declarations of support from at least two state lawmakers at a legislative forum in Bentonville on Saturday.
“We have firefighters dying in the line of duty,” said Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers. “The difference is, when a police officer is shot in the line of duty there’s no doubt what happened. When a firefighter goes in to a burning building and breathes in chemicals that will give him cancer, the damage that will kill him is not visible.”
Della Rosa and Rep. Rebecca Petty, R-Rogers, said they will support House Bill 1274 by Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville. That bill would extend survivor’s benefits to the families of deceased firefighters who die of certain types of cancers.
“This is not a Republican or Democrat thing or a conservative or liberal thing,” Della Rosa said. “This is a right or wrong thing.”
Other lawmakers attending the forum said they weren’t yet familiar with the bill but would research it. The bill came up at a legislative forum hosted by the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.
Harold “Bud” Planchon of Fayetteville was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died in 2014. His condition forced him to retire from the Springdale Fire Department in 2011.
Under the bill, if Planchon’s condition were determined to have resulted from service in the line of duty, his family would qualify for benefits and his youngest child, who has yet to attend college, would be entitled to have her college tuition paid by the state.
Planchon had adenocarcinoma, a type of colon cancer that is recognized by law as work-related for firefighters in 33 states because of the greater rates among firefighters. Breathing fumes from diesel engines and from burning chemicals increases risk of colon cancer, the states agree.
“Let me state this clearly: This data shows that firefighters have a 21 [percent] to 36 percent increased incidence of colon cancer compared to a general healthy working population, with the only obvious difference being their occupational exposure history,” Dr. Daniel Bradford of the Highlands Oncology Group of Fayetteville said in an April 16, 2012, letter to Planchon’s pension administrators. Bradford was Planchon’s cancer doctor.
There were no other known risk factors for this cancer in Planchon’s case, such as a family history or smoking, Bradford’s letter stated.
“While no one can absolutely state that Mr. Planchon’s workplace exposures to carcinogens directly caused his colon cancer, the compelling date on this association cannot and should not be ignored,” the letter stated.
Recognition by other states is better proof of the clout and persistence of firefighters’ groups than of a proven medical link, say opponents of the bill. Similar legislation has come up before. The Arkansas Professional Fire Fighters Association has actively lobbied for similar legislation since 1997.
Arkansas has more than 1,700 active and recently retired firefighters who would be eligible for the cancer benefit, bill supporters say. Based on an average rate of other states in cancer-related cases, the expected number of cancer claims for Arkansas would be one firefighter a year, they claim.