Derrick Cheston

2 weeks ago | nbcwashington.com | Katie Leslie |Steve Jones |Jeff Piper |Derrick Cheston

By the time Amy Dant had been promoted to lieutenant in the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, the firefighter paramedic had been diagnosed with cancer twice. With no history of cancer in her family, she said she first thought she was terribly unfortunate after being diagnosed with cervical cancer at 27 years old, followed by thyroid cancer nearly a decade later. Now, she told the News4 I-Team, she believes it was caused by something else: toxic exposures she endured on the job.

4 weeks ago | nbcwashington.com | Katie Leslie |Steve Jones |Derrick Cheston |Carlos Olazagasti

Research shows firefighters are at increased risk for developing cancer due to toxic exposures on the job, but while all 50 states and the District have created laws to provide benefits for firefighters with certain cancers, the News4 I-Team found many say the process in getting that help is fraught and the list of covered cancers is too narrow.