By Terry Oblander
Plain Dealer
ELYRIA, Ohio — The fire that broke out in the stern of the freighter Roger Blough in Lorain on June 24, 1971, would do more than delay construction of the Great Lakes’ largest ore carrier.
Four men constructing the ship would die in the fire that lasted four days.
And, some believe, the firefighters who fought that blaze might have walked away with cancers that would kill them someday.
Ken Afrates was among those who fought the fire. He died of pancreatic cancer exactly 22 years later — on June 24, 1993. His daughter, Kara Afrates, believes his cancer was caused by the burning diesel fuel.
Afrates tells her father’s story as she campaigns for changes in Ohio laws that would acknowledge cancer as a work-related illness for firefighters, just like heart and lung diseases. That change would spare firefighters from having to fight for state benefits while battling cancer.
Firefighters joined U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton and State Rep. Matt Lundy at Lorain County Community College on Friday to listen to Afrates and others talk about the broken social contract between the firefighters and the cities that hire them.
Afrates said cancer had claimed 24 of 28 firefighters who had fought the Roger Blough fire.
Twenty-two states now have workers’ compensation laws that presume that when firefighters develop cancer, it’s a result of the chemicals, smoke and fumes they encountered on their jobs.
Tim Kling was an Akron firefighter for 31 years. He had cancer diagnosed in December 1994.
Kling said the city of Akron filed 12 unsuccessful appeals to block him from collecting workers’ compensation for his pancreatic cancer.
Kling and Afrates argue that firefighters shouldn’t have to fight for treatment and compensation they have earned. It’s obvious, they argue, that firefighters come into contact with carcinogens when they rush into burning buildings.
Sutton and Brown said they are pushing federal legislation that would cover 12,000 federal firefighters with the “presumptive” language that Ohio firefighters would like.
In an interview, Lundy said he is waiting for a new study to determine a link between cancer and firefighters’ duties. He said that if the study makes that link he would introduce legislation making cancer a “presumptive” occupational disease.
In November, University of Cincinnati researchers reported that firefighters are twice as likely as nonfirefighters to develop testicular cancer and significantly more likely to develop non-Hodgkins lymphoma and prostate cancer. The study also confirmed earlier findings that firefighters are at a greater risk for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells.
The study said firefighters encounter cancer-causing agents — benzene, diesel engine exhaust, chloroform, soot, styrene and formaldehyde - at fire scenes. Idling diesel fire trucks at fire stations also are potential causes of some cancers, the study said.
Copyright 2007 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.