By Abigail Ham
The Keene Sentinel
KEENE, N.H. — The state executive council voted Wednesday to confirm the death of Keene Fire Lt. Aaron Cooper last year as a line-of-duty death. Cooper died from occupational lung cancer in June. He was 49.
According to the N.H. State Firemen’s Association, Cooper is the fourth member of the fire service in the state to be recognized as having died in the line of duty from exposure to carcinogens.
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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has found that cancer is a leading cause of death among firefighters, with 9 percent more cancer diagnoses and 14 percent more cancer deaths compared to the general population.
The risks are amplified by tenure and the number of fires across that time. Cooper served the Monadnock Region for decades, starting in 1997, and spent 24 years on the Keene force.
Until his diagnosis in the spring of 2023, Cooper was one of the healthiest people in the fire department, his colleagues said last year.
He was also an advocate for occupational health. He initiated Project MayDay, a resiliency group within the Keene Fire Department that aims to improve the wellbeing of firefighters, including lowering stigma around mental health and helping people in the fire service access care.
“We make a difference every day here, but making that difference — being able to make that difference — shouldn’t come on the back of firefighters’ wellness,” Cooper told The Sentinel in 2023.
In a statement on Facebook Wednesday, the local firefighters’ union thanked Gov. Kelly Ayotte and the council for recognizing Cooper.
“This acknowledgement honors Aaron’s service and sacrifice, and highlights the very real occupational hazards firefighters face every day,” the union wrote.
His peers told The Sentinel last year Cooper will be remembered for his compassion, leadership and devotion to his family and firehouse colleagues.
He’s also remembered for his heroism during a five-alarm fire in downtown Keene in 2022. He earned a Class II Medal of Valor from the N.H. Fire Academy for rescuing a woman who had become disoriented and couldn’t find her way out of the building.
After guiding her out, Cooper went back into the blazing building to check for others.
As part of the line-of-duty designation, the state will award $100,000 in death benefits to Cooper’s family, according to executive council minutes.
Ayotte thanked Cooper’s wife, Rachel, during the council meeting.
“I just want to say that our thoughts and prayers are with you, and also to thank you for your service, the service of your husband, and his dedication to the public service,” Ayotte said, per a recording of the meeting. “We are deeply grateful to you and your family, and you will remain in our prayers.”
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