Not all fire heroes die in fires. Lexington honors three who died from cancer.

On a foggy Lexington on Saturday, fire trucks lined Main Street to honor three firefighters who died — not from fire, but from the job-related cancers that are now recognized in more than 40 states as a cause of increased numbers of firefighter deaths.

The names of Joseph M. Vissing, Matthew J. Logsdon and Assistant Chief James A. Branham were added to the Fallen Firefighter Monument in Phoenix Park near the central library. More than 100 people attended the event, during which Major Maria Roberts played the bagpipes while her son Danny played a drum.

Fire chief Kristin Chilton said that fire department procedures for preventing contact with toxic substances during firefighting have changed, but “the main thing that has changed is our level of awareness.”

The department has instituted increased numbers of preventive medical screenings as well as air monitoring at fire scenes, Chilton told the crowd.

Kentucky adopted legislation in 2016 that allows current and recently retired firefighters to be considered as dying in the line of duty if they get cancers including bladder, brain, colon, kidney, liver, prostate, testicular, skin, cervical and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The bill unanimously passed both the Senate and House.

Vissing was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma and died April 2015; Branham died August 2017, almost a year after being diagnosed with brain cancer; and Logsdon died July 2016 with Stage IV cancer affecting his liver, lungs, spine and skull.

Firefighter Todd Houston, president of the Lexington Fraternal Order of Firefighters, said that while fire departments are more aware of the hazards facing firefighters and taking increased precautions, “these hazards still and always will exist.”

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 released results of the largest U.S. study ever of cancer risk among career firefighters in the United States. Surveying 30,000 firefighters over 60 years, the results showed that compared with the general population, firefighters are at higher risk for cancers including oral, digestive, respiratory, genital and urinary.

Logsdon’s mother, Sissy Fenwick of Louisville, said that her son wanted to be a firefighter from the time he was a child growing up near a fire station in the Daviess County community of Sorgho. Logson was a 10-year veteran with the Lexington fire department who had no symptoms before a January 2016 diagnosis. On his last work day with the department, he fought two fires without knowing he had cancer.

“I have a lot of pride in Matthew as a son,” Fenwick said Saturday. “We’re very sad he didn’t get to be a firefighter any longer than he did.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2017 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Not all fire heroes die in fires. Lexington honors three who died from cancer.."