DSM local firefighters union working with legislature to expand coverage for those with cancer
The U.S. Fire Administration says firefighters are 9% more likely than other professions to be diagnosed with cancer.
The U.S. Fire Administration says firefighters are 9% more likely than other professions to be diagnosed with cancer.
The U.S. Fire Administration says firefighters are 9% more likely than other professions to be diagnosed with cancer.
The U.S. Fire Administration says firefighters are 9% more likely than other professions to be diagnosed with cancer, but in Iowa, not all firefighters are eligible to receive disability coverage. It's an issue the Des Moines Association of Professional Firefighters is trying to fix through a bill currently working its way through the Iowa Legislature.
This comes as the local firefighters union says they have seen a number of members of the Des Moines Fire Department receive a cancer diagnosis and begin their battle, such as Brian Stoaks.
"Brian was a pretty amazing person," Kelli Stoaks, Brian's wife, said. "He could do everything. He made everything look easy."
Kelli refers to Brian as a loving father to their two kids and a passionate firefighter.
"He started as a firefighter and was later promoted to an engineer," Stoaks said. "He drove the truck. He loved that job."
In March of 2022, Brian was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In Iowa, pancreatic cancer is not a presumed cancer — one of the 14 it's presumed firefighters would have gotten on the job.
"Doctor appointments, medications, all of those things would've been covered," Stoaks said. "But because Brian's cancer was not one of the presumed cancers, we had to-- that was on our insurance."
Stoaks said her husband got genetic testing done and the results were negative, meaning his cancer was not genetic.
Brian Stoaks' diagnosis, like many others in Iowa fire departments, is why the local fire union is trying to expand the coverage to more than just the 14 current presumed cancers.
"We've been dealing with 10-12 cancers just within the last couple of years," Joe Van Haalen, the president of the Des Moines Professional Firefighters Union, said.
In addition to being the president of the local union, Van Haalen was Brian Stoaks' captain for several years. Like with any member of the fire department, Van Haalen said watching one of their own have to battle cancer is tough.
"It's almost at an epidemic level," Van Haalen said. "Out of 300 individuals on the Des Moines Fire Department, if that many are dealing with it, we've got to make some changes."
You can watch how the union is working to get this legislature through the Statehouse, as well as what protective and preventative equipment fire stations are implementing in the video above.
