By Bill Vidonic
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
PITTSBURGH — The head of Pittsburgh’s firefighters union asked for an investigation into what he said are the cancer deaths of nine firefighters over 13 years who worked at a South Side station.
In a letter to city fire Chief Darryl Jones, Joseph King said two other firefighters from the No. 24 station at South 18th and Carson streets are suffering from inoperable cancer.
“Pittsburgh firefighters believe that there should be an immediate survey/investigation into this engine house because of the many cases of cancer among those who have worked there. Something is seriously wrong,” King, president of Pittsburgh Fire Fighters Local No. 1, said in the letter dated Monday.
King declined to provide names of the firefighters or any further details about their illnesses or deaths.
“The best I can do is to bring this to the attention of management, and see how they handle this. I’m not trying to file (compensation) cases; I’m trying to stop this from happening anymore,” King said Wednesday. “I’m telling you, it’s a death warrant.”
Jones said he just received King’s letter and that the fire bureau and administration would look into the matter.
“If what they’re telling us is true, there’s obviously a concern,” Jones said.
On Saturday, Gov. Ed Rendell vetoed legislation that would have expanded workers’ compensation claims for firefighters diagnosed with certain types of cancer.
King said the cancers that would have been covered under the legislation were those caused by work-related issues, including diesel fumes and long-term exposure to certain carcinogens.
King said his letter to Jones wasn’t timed with Rendell’s veto.
The South Side station, with 40 firefighters stationed there, was built in the late 1960s or early ‘70s, King said.
He said the station should be tested to see what fumes or carcinogens are coating the station walls, lockers and firefighters’ clothing.
“I have guys who die out of every station, but there’s something wrong there,” King said.
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