Legislation, grant aims at protecting firefighters from cancer

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — The men and women who save local families got new gear on Thursday to protect their own health.

Ashley Harvey said her loved ones spend their time at work helping others.

She told Action News Jax, "I'm the daughter, and granddaughter, wife, and sister of a firefighter."

According to Harvey, some days that means her family is running into flames to save others.

She said she never expected cancer to be what ended her father's life.

“I remember the doctors telling us ‘the only people who get this type of cancer are firemen,'” Harvey described.

In 2018 Action News Jax spoke with Clay County firefighter Jeremy McKay weeks after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

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McKay died at the end of November 2019.

Harvey said: “We become family. We’ve all experienced very similar things. I think of the McKays often because they have young girls that were just like me.”

Firefighters are 15% more likely to develop cancer.

The disease is accounts for 70% of deaths in the line of duty.

State leaders and Firehouse Subs teamed up to protect the first responders across Florida on Thursday.

State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said the $50,000 grant will purchase 222 decontamination kits for firefighters’ gear.

A bill filed in the Florida House and Senate would go hand in hand with the grant.

"It will be reoccurring and it's not just for the decontamination kit. It's also expanded to any kind of safety equipment that can help protect the lives of our brave first responders," Patronis said.

Harvey said it might seem like a small step, but it could make a big difference.

She described, "Now we can work on preventing the cancer in the first place."

She added, “No one wants to see your hero laying there in bed and can’t get up.”

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