TORY ministers must introduce legislation to ensure that firefighters with cancer and other diseases linked to their work can receive compensation, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) demanded today.

The call came on Firefighters’ Memorial Day, which saw workers across the essential emergency service line up outside fire stations and observe a minute’s silence at midday.

More than 2,000 firefighters have died in the line of duty, but if the total included all those killed by the serious health conditions their work exposes them to, the number would be far higher, the union said.

Its long-term calls for the kind of “presumptive compensation legislation” which is already the norm in the US, Australia and Canada were boosted last year when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared firefighting is carcinogenic or cancer-causing. 

Independent research conducted by the University of Central Lancashire earlier this year revealed that workers across the sector are dying of cancer at 1.6 times the rate of the general population, while firefighters aged 35-39 are three times more likely to have the disease than others.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “People join the fire service to protect their communities and to help people.

“Firefighters have the right to expect that everything possible is done to protect their health and that when they fall ill as a result of their job, help will be there.

“Britain is decades behind other countries when it comes to this issue — this is a national scandal.

“The FBU has been forced to run its own campaign of prevention and health monitoring, but the fundamental responsibility lies with the government and the employer.

“We will not rest until firefighters have access to the compensation they deserve.”