Man. firefighters to get breast cancer coverage

Manitoba is about tobecome the first province in Canada to recognize breast canceras an occupational risk to female firefighters.

That means itwill be added to the list of recognized job hazards,opening the doorto provincial compensation, with the expectation that thecoverage will be introducedin the Manitoba legislatureon Tuesday, said Alex Forrest, president of the Winnipeg firefighters union.

He said three other cancers will also be recognized in the legislation: prostate cancer, melanoma, and multiple myeloma.

About 40 Winnipeg firefighters currently suffering from those cancers will now be able to seek compensation under the new legislation, Forrest said.

"The firefighter's family, if that firefighter dies of that cancer, the family's looked after from [the province's Workers' Compensation Board] in the same way as if a firefighter falls through a floor in a fire," he said.

Manitoba leads the way

Several other cancers are already recognized by provincial legislation as beinglinked to firefighting. Manitoba was one of the first provinces to offer such coverage in 2002, and it was followed by almost all others.

Firefighters are routinely exposed to toxic fumes andgases released by burning plastics and synthetic materials.

The risk of developing breast cancer isthree to five times greater in a female firefighter than in the general population, Forrest said, noting"at every fire there are more than 200 known carcinogens that are connected to breast cancer."

The Winnipeg Fire Department has 43 female firefighters second onlyto Toronto in the country.

Cancers initiallycovered by Manitoba after the 2002 legislation wasintroduced to include primary site brain cancer, bladder or kidney cancer, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or leukemia.

That coverage was expanded in 2005 to includecolon or ureter cancers and lung cancer in non-smokers, as well as heart attacks within 24 hours of emergency responses.