Three retired New York firefighters who worked at Ground Zero in the days after the World Trade Center attack died on the same day this week of illnesses possibly connected to toxic dust released on 9/11, fire officials said.
Lieutenant Howard Bischoff and firefighters Robert Leaver and Daniel Heglund died on Monday.
“Losing three firefighters on the same day to WTC-related illnesses is a painful reminder that, 13 years later, we continue to pay a terrible price for the Department’s heroic efforts,” FDNY commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement.
Leaver, a 20-year veteran, and Bischoff, a 19-year veteran, grew up in Brooklyn and were childhood friends. Heglund served 21 years with the department and died just a day before his 59th birthday.
One of the firefighters died of leukemia, another of esophageal cancer and the third of colon cancer.
“On that day when first responders arrived, the air was toxic and remained toxic for many months afterward,” said Jake Lemonda, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said during a media availability on Thursday.
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