All,

The NY Post is reporting the very tough but not unexpected news that more than 2,500 Ground Zero rescuers and responders have come down with cancer---- year...

with an additional 863 from FDNY.

The grim toll has skyrocketed from the 1,140 cancer cases reported last year.In its latest tally, the World Trade Center Health Program at Mount Sinai Hospital counts 1,655 responders with cancer among the 37,000 cops, hard hats, sanitation workers, other city employees and volunteers it monitors.

NOTE: The tragic sum rises to 2,518 when Firefighters and EMTs are added. The FDNY, which has its own WTC health program, said Friday it counts 863 members with cancers certified for 9/11-related treatment.

A retired FDNY captain, 63, who toiled non-stop at Ground Zero for a week after 9/11, and months in all, recently received a $1.5 million award from the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund for lung disease and inoperable pancreatic cancer.

The emaciated Bravest brought VCF Special Master Sheila Birnbaum to tears when he testified at a hearing in May - expedited because of his dim prognosis - telling how he loves his grandchildren and worries about his wife of 40 years.

"I'm hoping they rush more cases like mine, where we're not expected to last long," he told The Post.

On 9/11, he commandeered a city bus and got the Brooklyn Bridge closed so he and his crew from Ladder Co. 132 could race to the towers, where they joined the dig for victims.

"I knew that day that a lot of us would get sick," he said.

He was forced to retire in 2008 after lung damage left him wheezing after fires. Last year, doctors found a huge tumor entwined around arteries: "They couldn't take it out without killing me," he said.

The 6-foot-2 firefighter - a muscle-bound 240 pounds on 9/11 - now weighs 160 after chemotherapy and radiation.

"I was a very active guy. Now there's not much I can do," he said, adding that his three toddler grandkids give him joy, though he's often too weak to play with them.

"I'm grateful for it," he said of his VCF award, which is mainly based on lost earnings but includes $250,000 for pain and suffering. "I just don't understand why they're making everyone wait two years."

VCF recipients get 10 percent immediately, with the rest due in 2016.

As of June 30, the VCF had received 1,145 claims listing cancer, many also with other ailments, according to data compiled for The Post.

Of those, 881 claims - for scores of cancer types - were deemed eligible for compensation, with the rest under review. The vast majority are 9/11 workers, but they include 17 downtown residents and five visitors.

So far, 115 cancer claimants have been awarded a total $50.5 million, in sums from $400,000 to $4.1 million. The VCF could not say how many cancer claimants have died.

Many more sufferers or their next-of-kin are expected to file by the Oct. 14 deadline for cancer claims.

WTC epidemiologists say studies show that 9/11 workers have gotten certain cancers at a significantly higher rate than expected in the normal population - prostrate, thyroid, leukemia and multiple myeloma.

HERE IS THE ENTIRE ARTICLE:

http://nypost.com/2014/07/27/cancers-among-ground-zero-workers-skyrocketing/

FIREFIGHTER DIES FROM OCCUPATIONAL CANCER-LEAVES NINE CHILDREN BEHIND:

It is with deep regret that we pass on the news that Firefighter Kevin James of the Southwold Township Fire Department (Ontario, Canada) has passed away from an occupational related cancer. Kevin has been a firefighter with Southwold for 12 years and prior to that was with Southwest Oxford FD for 9 years. He leaves a wife and 9 children behind.

Kevin James of St. Thomas passed away peacefully after a valiant fight with cancer at home on Friday, July 25, 2014 in his 49th year. Loved husband of Caitlin (Traviss) James and loving father of Nicole, Cynthia, Joseph, Jennifer, Michael, Angela, Benjamin, Geoffrey and Jeremy. Kevin was born December 28, 1965 in Wallaceburg. He was a volunteer Firefighter with the Southwold Fire Department and also was a security guard at London Health Science Centre.

Resting at Williams Funeral Home, 45 Elgin St., St. Thomas where visitation will be held Tuesday from 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. The funeral service will be held at Forest City Community Church (3725 Bostwick Rd., London, N6P 1G9) on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. Cremation to follow. Donations to the Cancer Society or the Bruce Trail Conservancy.

Logistics for Kevin's fire department funeral are still being arranged and we will post them as soon as we have the information.

Link to the funeral home: http://www.williamsfuneralhomeltd.com/index1.htm

Link to the Southwold Firefighters: http://southwoldfiredept.ca/

Southwold is a predominately rural township in Elgin County, in Ontario, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake Erie. It has a population of about 4400 residents. Our condolences to all affected. RIP.

FERTILIZER MANUFACTURERS BLAME WEST (TEXAS) VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS:

C.F. Industries is one of the fertilizer manufacturers named in hundreds of lawsuits filed by families of those killed and injured in the West Fertilizer Company explosion on
April 17, 2013. In recent court filings, C.F. Industries is seeking to designate the City of West as a "responsible third party" in the lawsuits. The fertilizer manufacturer contends that the city failed to properly train the first responders to fight the fire that triggered the explosion in West that killed 15 people and injured hundreds of others:

http://kwhi.com/fertilizer-manufacturers-blame-volunteer-firefighters/

Take Care. Be Careful. Pass It On.

BillyG

The Secret List 7-27-2014-0524 hrs