13 Investigation: Houston denies benefits for firefighter who died of cancer

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Stephanie Gunderson remembers when her husband woke up one morning asking if she had a back pain every time she got out of bed.

She told him no and didn’t think about it. Captain Will Gunderson had been a firefighter for the Houston Fire Department for almost 30 years, so she thought maybe it was only years of sleeping on station mattresses that had finally caught up with him.

But the pain persisted. It got so bad that Gunderson would spend nights walking around the fire station instead of sleeping.

He eventually went to a doctor, who ordered an ultrasound, then an MRI, CT scan and colonoscopy.

“I remember he looked at me because I was there with him in the recovery room, and he just looked at me and he said, ‘It’s not good’,” recalls Stephanie. . “We didn’t know, but we had a hunch.”

Gunderson was diagnosed with colon cancer at the end of 2018. He had surgery and thought he was free from cancer a few months later, but a few spots appeared on his liver and he has again underwent chemotherapy.

After years of battling cancer, Gunderson passed away on April 2. He was only 49 years old.

The city of Houston has not recognized Gunderson’s death as a death in the line of duty despite a 2019 Texas law that says colon cancer in firefighters is considered a work-related injury.

As a result, the city denies his wife’s workers compensation claim for death benefits after decades of her husband’s service.

“We can’t ask our men and women to go out there and risk their lives, to be exposed to unknown materials, to carcinogens, and then all of a sudden when they have cancer, we give them up, ”said Marty Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Firefighters Union.

Gunderson’s widow said the pain of losing her husband is compounded knowing that the cancer prevention equipment the city owns is in a warehouse, instead of being installed at stations like the one her husband worked at. .

13 Investigations have learned that 43 of the 93 Department of Houston fire stations do not have a ventilation system designed to remove or minimize harmful carcinogens from stations where firefighters live and work around the clock.

The device connects to fire trucks and captures heavy exhaust gases when vehicles are started so they don’t enter the entire station.

A recent investigation by the firefighters’ union found that the vents at 12 of the stations that have them are not even working.

“It is absolutely a cause of the increased rate of cancer risk,” Lancton said. “The big problem is that the diesel exhaust that comes out of these fire trucks is not only in the bays right next to the dormitories, but also, at one point, next to the ice machines that you had for the bay, next door to the canteen where the firefighters have their meals. At the end of the day, you live in a hostel, if you will. It’s not going anywhere. It’s just resting on everything the materials, all the equipment, all the tools, whatever you bathe in. “

Oak Forest Community Station 13, where Gunderson worked for decades, does not have a ventilation system, according to the union’s investigation.

“If the city is worried about the firefighters, do something. Make it happen. Protect them, help them protect them while they protect the citizens,” said Stephanie Gunderson.

“Things could have been done differently”

Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña said when first taking over the department in 2017, none of the fire stations had the required exhaust air systems.

He said the department applied and qualified for a federal grant to purchase the system for 77 of the department’s 93 stations.

The remaining 16 stations were not eligible for the grant because they were built after 2003, when a national industry standard was implemented, requiring stations to incorporate exhaust systems into new buildings.

Those 16 stations should have had the system installed during their construction, Peña said. He said most were built before he took office, and added that those built since his arrival have the system.

“I don’t know how it goes, but I can tell you that, since I came here in 2017, our goal has been to make sure that we are doing the right thing for our firefighters and that we at least meet the minimum, ”said Peña. “The exhaust systems, the extractors, these are things that should have been finished 15 years ago and they weren’t.”

Lancton said the stations are also lacking cancer-fighting extractors, “a fancy word for a very expensive washer and dryer for your cargo hold equipment.”

Only 61 fire stations in the department are equipped with extractors and the union investigation indicates that nine of them are not working, including one that floods the station every time it is used. Fire department records indicate five open work orders.

Lancton said the firefighting equipment is designed to repel heat and not carcinogenic carcinogens. Whenever firefighters go into an uncontrolled atmosphere, such as smoke and carcinogenic environments during fire response, these items remain on the equipment whenever the firefighter uses or s ‘approaching.

In an ideal world, Lancton said firefighters would have brand new equipment every time they responded to a fire, to ensure that carcinogens left on the equipment did not injure them the next time they were taken. will put it on to answer a call, but that’s unrealistic.

The second best solution is extraction systems.

In addition to extractors, Peña said there are other options for firefighters if they are concerned about carcinogens in their equipment.

Firefighters can visit the distribution warehouse to replace their equipment with a new set or schedule their equipment to be cleaned by another company on their days off at no cost to them. The service will also collect the material to be cleaned from a fire station.

Nonetheless, he said the city is working hard to finish installing the extractors and expects every station to have one by February 2022 if the city can provide an additional $ 308,000 for upgrades. plumbing and electricity needed.

The installation is too late to help Gunderson, but his widow hopes more is done to support his colleagues, who have become their family over the decades.

“The doctor was very adamant that it was the environment,” she said. “They breathe everything. I mean, I would know when he would bring his gear home – the smell, the smoke, it was so overwhelming.”

Peña said the company the city is working with to install the washers may do one or two a month.

He said part of the problem is that the washers are commercial grade, but the fixtures are older and the plumbing and electrical cannot meet the demand to use them, so installing the washers. cannot be done overnight.

This requires upgrading the plumbing and electricity in the fire stations, which costs approximately $ 15,000 to $ 20,000 per station.

There is $ 230,000 in municipal funds approved for the initiative, but the department needs an additional $ 308,000 to complete the installation at the remaining 32 stations that still need the extractors.

“What frustrates me is that we have to make up for lost time for things that haven’t been done in the past,” said Peña. “I blame the fact that things could have been done differently when cancer wasn’t one of the leading killers of firefighters, right? If in 10 or 15 years, cancer is not the main cause of death among firefighters. firefighters, we would have done a good thing today. “

The nonprofit Fire Fighters Foundation of Houston spent $ 228,170 in July 2019 to buy 29 extractors and $ 118,950 three months ago to purchase 15 extractors.

“We can’t sit here and say we’re actually trying to do something to reduce the risk because you can never eliminate it when you clearly have fire stations that # 1 doesn’t. .and # 2 those who have, don’t work, ”Lancton said.

State changes work-related cancers for firefighters

As firefighters wait for known cancer prevention equipment to be installed, Stephanie Gunderson is still fighting for the city to recognize that her husband’s cancer may have been linked to his work as a first responder.

“They don’t care,” Gunderson said.

Prior to the 2019 amendment to the current Texas presumption of cancer law for first responders, “a type of cancer that can be caused by exposure to heat, smoke, radiation, or a known carcinogen.” or suspected, as determined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. “, was considered to be work-related and covered by workers’ compensation benefits.

But when the amendment came into effect in 2019, it removed the part of the law that referred to the International Cancer Research Center list and added a more specific list of cancers considered to be work-related. The new list includes colon cancer.

Peña said under the old law it was difficult to determine what types of cancers would be covered.

In order to be eligible for workers’ compensation for cancer under the new law, Pena said the individual would have to be cancer-free when hired and diagnosed with cancer on the job.

He said the main job of the individual should be responding to a fire or being exposed to carcinogens, and he also cannot be a smoker or married to a smoker.

Peña admits there are cases where firefighters are denied workers compensation, but said he was not aware of the details of each case or why they might not meet the requirements.

In Gunderson’s case, he was diagnosed with colon cancer before the 2019 law.

Just three days before his death, the longtime firefighter had planned to go to work. His wife joked that he sometimes liked being at the fire station more than he liked being at home. His colleagues at the station even made a pact for them to all retire together.

Now without Gunderson, his wife said her fellow firefighters still honor the pact and she hopes the city will do more to honor their service.

“He’s not the last to die of cancer or get cancer while being a firefighter, but if there is anything they can do to help reduce that please do so,” he said. she declared.

For updates on this report, follow ABC13 investigative reporter Ted Oberg on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.