Firefighters

The number of FDNY firefighters who have died as a result of 9/11-related cancer or respiratory illness now exceeds 300, the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) announced recently. Retired FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph McKie passed away in late September of colon cancer, which he developed as a result of his exposure to Ground Zero toxins […]

A recent study published in Blood Cancer Journal found a higher risk of multiple myeloma precursor disease in FDNY firefighters who were exposed to Ground Zero toxins at the World Trade Center site on and after 9/11. The firefighters included in the study had nearly double – 180% – the normal risk of developing myeloma […]

A recent study in the medical journal Nature Medicine found that FDNY firefighters who worked at the World Trade Center site on and after 9/11 have an increased risk of all types of cancer, with a particularly elevated incidence of prostate, thyroid, and tonsil cancer, as well as melanoma. For thyroid cancer, for example, the […]

An upcoming deadline approaches for volunteer 9/11 first responders and recovery workers who worked in Lower Manhattan on 9/11 and in the weeks and months that followed.  Thousands of volunteers supported the search-and-rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero, the Fresh Kills Landfill, barges between Lower Manhattan and the landfill, and the New York City […]

Clinton R. traveled more than 1,200 miles to support New York City’s recovery after 9/11. A firefighter with the Central Platte Fire Protection District in Missouri, Clinton wanted to contribute his experience as an emergency responder. He joined thousands of other responders from across the United States – volunteers who went to Ground Zero to […]

There were more than 100,000 union first responders who deployed to Lower Manhattan on and after 9/11, working tirelessly for weeks and then months on search-and-rescue and recovery operations. At the time, government officials claimed the air near Ground Zero was safe to breathe. Yet within weeks, many responders had developed “World Trade Center cough” […]