Local 995 Member Bernard E. Emerson Passes Away
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It is with deepest regret and sorrow to report the line-of-duty death of Lieutenant Bernard E. Emerson, Jr. of IAFF Local 995 – Richmond, Virginia. Brother Emerson, 44, died on Thursday, July 27, 2006 of cancer. The visitation will be held on Saturday, July 29, 2006 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday, July 30, 2006 from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Bennett Funeral Home, 8014 Lee Davis Road, Mechanicsville, Virginia 23111, (804) 746-8665. The funeral will be held on Monday, July 31, 2006 at 12 noon at the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1603 Monument Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23220.
I signed up for the IAFF LODD email list (you have to have an IAFF number to sign up for it) at the beginning of this year. It has amazed me at how many firefighters die of cancer. The thing is that the LODD list is only the ones that are considered a “Line of Duty Death”. I hear of many others through Firehouse.com, and individual websites.
In researching the history of the Roanoke Firefighters, I can tell you that Roanoke has lost its fair share of firefighters to cancer. Luckily for the firefighters of today we have Presumptive Laws for Cancer, Lung Disease, Heart Disease, and Infectious Diseases due to our increased chances of suffering from these ailments. Unfortunately for us, and everyone else, there isn’t a cure for Cancer.