State lawmakers want to make sure the family members of volunteer firefighters who die from work-related cancer receive benefits from the state.
Currently those line-of-duty death benefits extend only to paid professional firefighters. Rep. Russell Bedsole’s bill would expand those benefits to unpaid volunteer firefighters.
Bedsole (R- Alabaster) said about 75% of the state is serviced by volunteer firefighters, and they put themselves at the same risk of inhaling carcinogens as paid firefighters do. He wants to make sure their families are offered the same benefits. “Our volunteer firefighters are fighting the same structure fires, they’re responding to the same vehicle fires,” he said. “They’re exposed to the same carcinogens that our professional paid firefighters are, so what we would like to do through this is offer them a similar benefit.”