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Committee hears push to expand firefighter cancer screening and broaden Fallen Hero Fund coverage
Summary
Comptroller Sean Scanlon and firefighter advocates urged immediate expansion of screening and an amendment to let families of firefighters who received Cancer Relief Fund support access the Fallen Hero Fund; advocates cited a Litchfield pilot where 60% of screened volunteers had positive findings under a firefighter‑adjusted guideline.
State and volunteer fire service witnesses urged the Public Safety and Security Committee to adopt provisions aimed at earlier cancer detection and broader death benefits for firefighters.
State Comptroller Sean Scanlon testified in support of Senate Bill 410, which would expand the Fallen Hero Fund so that firefighters who applied to or received Cancer Relief Fund support would be treated as line‑of‑duty deaths for funeral assistance. "If somebody does die of a disease that they got in the line of duty, they should be treated as a line‑of‑duty death," Scanlon said.
Several volunteer firefighters and physicians described a community‑led pilot screening in Litchfield County last September. Burlington volunteer Jeff Bond testified that 50 volunteers were screened under an age‑adjusted guideline developed with Hartford HealthCare; 30 of the 50 screened had preliminary positive findings under that protocol. Bond and other witnesses stressed that a positive screening does not mean a cancer diagnosis but rather that follow‑up evaluation is warranted.
Representative John Piscopo and other legislators supporting the measure said the pilot shows a replicable model and urged removing legislative barriers to scale the program. Firefighter union and advocacy witnesses argued that the pilot was conducted at no cost to participants and that earlier screening could both save lives and reduce long‑term Cancer Relief Fund costs.
The committee discussed financing and the sustainability of the accounts that would underwrite screenings and benefits; municipal and stakeholder witnesses noted the need for a stable funding timeline. No vote was taken; members asked for fiscal details and for further coordination with public‑health partners and the comptroller's office.
