DETROIT — Detroit firefighter Dale Fahoome died in January 2026 after a battle with stage 4 esophageal cancer, following 27 years of service with the city.
Now, his widow is asking Detroit officials to provide additional support to the family by recognizing his death as connected to his work, Click On Detroit reported.
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Coco Fahoome said her husband understood the immediate risks of entering burning buildings, as well as the long-term cancer risks associated with his years in the fire service.
Under Michigan law, certain cancers can qualify firefighters and their families for additional benefits and may support a line-of-duty death designation. Esophageal cancer is not currently included among the qualifying cancers, limiting the benefits available to Fahoome’s family.
“You know, you got other things that have happened in the fire department where they’ve called it a line of duty and it’s up to one person’s decision,” Fahoome said. “There’s another fireman that jumped in the river to save Jamal Johnson’s brother, Sivod Johnson, jumped in a river to save the kids. His was a line of duty. What makes one’s death a line of duty and this one not? It’s mind-boggling.”
The Detroit Human Resources Department said the city determined Fahoome’s death did not qualify as a line-of-duty death after reviewing his case. Officials said the family was informed before his death and that medical documentation supports the decision, but additional details could not be released because of privacy laws.
Walter Fahoome, Dale’s son, wears his father’s ashes around his neck and hopes to become a Detroit firefighter. Coco Fahoome said she supports her son’s decision but wants assurance the city will care for him and other firefighters the way she believes it should have cared for her husband.
Do you know which cancers are excluded from your state’s firefighter presumptive cancer law?
