- New York City firefighters who worked amidst highly toxic
smoke-filled air at Ground Zero for the first few days after 9/11 are becoming
sick to the point of being disabled - and may sue the city for compensation.
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- News of the lawsuit started as a rumor Saturday morning
but was eventually confirmed through a series of interviews on New York
talk radio, with several firefighters now saying they want to sue the city
to protect themselves against future disability.
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- "The guys at Ground Zero who were operating for
several days or even weeks after the tragic event did not have proper respirators
to take care of the toxic fumes that were down there," attorney Jim
McGary, of the Manhattan law firm Barish and McGary, told WABC Radio's
John Gambling.
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- McGary is representing several disabled firefighters
and intends to file a notice of claim with the city before the 90-day deadline
for doing so lapses on Dec. 10.
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- "They had only paper masks with rubbers bands, which
just weren't sufficient to protect their lungs from what they were breathing
in," McGary explained, noting that rescue workers labored for approximately
10 days before the city provided proper respiratory equipment.
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- "Dr. Prezant, the Fire Department's pulmonologist,
has told several firefighters that they are not able to work anymore and
they're going to have to get a disability pension," the lawyer said.
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- McGary described the disabled firefighters as "guys
who had no prior history of lung disease ... who were black belts in karate
and marathon runners who have been told that they have 20 or 30 or 50 percent
of their lung capacity gone."
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- Mike Carter, spokesman for the New York City Firefighters
Union, explained that his members would be indemnified against illness
as long as they remain on active duty.
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- "If I'm an active firefighter and two years from
now I'm diagnosed with leukemia or some kind of a respiratory problem,
I would get a disability pension," Carter told WABC.
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- "The problem arises upon retirement, when my status
switches. ... When my status changes from an active member to a retired
member, all of my pension rights cease."
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- Carter cited a 1975 case that saw firefighters contracting
lethal diseases up to a generation after the event.
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- "There was a telephone fire. A tremendous amount
carcinogens were inhaled and years and years later, up to twenty years
later, half of the group of firefighters that responded contracted and
died from very exotic forms of cancer."
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- Carter said that Ground Zero firefighters concerned about
the long-term health risks have sought legal advice on their own, without
any help from his union.
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- "All that is happening at this point in time is
these people want to get their name on record and file a notice of claim
[so] down the road ... they have the same protections as everybody else
in this country," Carter said.
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