Deaths of 9-11 First Responders Continue to Rise

Continued from my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 and Cooter's History Thing blogs posted today.

Three hundred forty-three New York City firefighters died during the initial response on Sept. 11.  In July, NYC mayor Bill Deblasio announced that the 200th NYC firefighter had died from a Ground Zero-related illness, a number expected to continue to grow even to exceeding the original firefighter toll.  (The number of these deaths this date in 2018 was approaching 180.)

Tom Frey remembers a detective who sat at the desk next to his, who was one of the first to succumb to a pulmonary illness.  His friend and fellow NYC detective Luis Alvarez, who supported Frey through his cancer treatments and made news in June when he gave emotional testimony before Congress in support of extending the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, died two weeks after his testimony.

In July, the victim fund was extended through 2090 -- a necessary measure, says Dr, Greg Cosgrove, chief medical officer at the Chicago-based Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, because illnesses such as that will continue to be linked to ground zero exposure.