NEW YORK — Government officials have declared firefighters who died of 9/11-related illnesses unable to be considered a line of duty death.
NY Daily News reported that at least 13 men, who relied on a longstanding FDNY policy granting children of firefighters who died on the job preferential status, are devastated because their dreams have gone up in smoke.
“We’ve all been waiting at least five years just to get in the running to get the job. And now that we’re here, they’ve taken away the legacy of our fathers,” said Scott Barocas, whose father, Capt. Sheldon Barocas, died in 2011 from a 9/11-related cancer.
Barocas was notified in May from the FDNY saying his dad died on administrative leave and lost “legacy points,” which put him in a long line of would-be firefighters, the paper reported.
“There is a tragic disconnect between the observation of those who died that terrible day and those who have died every day since,” said John Sullivan Jr., the son of FDNY firefighter John Sullivan, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2010, alluding to the agony caused by a 9/11-related illness.
Two Republican state senators, Martin Golden and Greg Ball, spearheaded an amendment that would define “killed in the line of duty” to include firefighters and cops who perished as a result of illnesses contracted during the cleanup, according to the report. However, the legislature has yet to sign the bill.
“It breaks my heart to see these kids who just want to get on the job like their dads. I understand the need to want to be like your father, especially when he’s gone way too soon,” Jennifer McNamara, a wife of a FDNY firefighter said.