In the immediate aftermath of a 2012 military jet crash on Birdneck Road in Virginia Beach, it was hailed a “Good Friday miracle,” because no one died.
But it did expose firefighters and first responders to toxicity “above and beyond” what they routinely face, according to Max Gonano, president of the Virginia Beach Professional Fire and EMS.
Those chemicals can have effects that reach far into the future for the men and women who respond to such emergencies, causing cancer and other health complications down the line.
A bill to create the Emergency Response Exposure Grant Fund and Program could help address the impact of those unique exposures statewide.
“Many of our firefighters and our local heroes die of cancers after being exposed to toxic materials,” said Virginia Beach Del. Alex Askew, chief patron of the bill. Beach Sen. Aaron Rouse introduced the Senate version.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer ranks a career in firefighting in the same category as smoking and exposure to radiation in terms of likelihood to cause cancer.
“Firefighting is inherently dangerous and it is inherently carcinogenic, just by the nature of the job,” Gonano said. Long-term exposure to smoke, burning materials, chemicals in firefighting foam and equipment is tied to an increased risk of certain cancer types.
In addition to everyday exposure, firefighters may encounter even more toxic chemicals at emergencies like the 2012 jet crash.
“It was just a cauldron of chemicals,” said Councilmember David Hutcheson, a former Virginia Beach fire chief who was on the scene that day with the department.
If passed, the grant fund would cover the cost of annual cancer screenings for first responders throughout Virginia who work emergencies like the jet crash.The bill also allows funding to be used for out-of-pocket medical expenses not otherwise covered by insurance or worker’s compensation.
Virginia Beach Fire Chief Kenneth Pravetz said the bill is modeled after efforts in New York to aid firefighters and other first responders to 9/11. A 2021 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine concluded firefighters who responded to the World Trade Centers had 13% higher rates of cancer than other firefighters.
Another proposed bill honors a firefighter who responded to the jet crash and died of cancer.
Matthew “Chevy” Chiaverotti, 44, was a 20-year veteran of the Virginia Beach Fire Department. He died in 2023 of thyroid cancer, a cancer type that can be tied to firefighting service.
“We can’t say definitively that the jet crash caused Matt’s cancer,” Pravetz said. “We think that was a very high dose of some really nasty stuff and there’s a good correlation that maybe that’s what got his cancer started.”
Pravetz said there’s an alarming incidence rate of cancer in the Virginia Beach fire department: there are currently 11 open worker’s compensation claims for cancer treatment.
Del. Micheal Feggans of Virginia Beach introduced a bill to name a bridge on Interstate 264 over South Rosemont Road after Chiaverotti.
Virginia Beach City Council approved a resolution this week in support of the legislation and offered to pay about $6,000 for the signs.
“He lived his life in service of others,” Pravetz said. “It would mean so much to have his name up where everybody could see it, and it might spark someone to ask about his life of service.”
Hutcheson recalled Chiaverotti as someone with a magnetic personality.
“It’s not going to bring him back, but it’s nice to be recognized,” he said of the bridge.
Askew, the patron of the exposure grant fund bill, said the measures are designed to give back to firefighters.
“We just want to make sure we continue to protect the firefighters as they risk their lives every day to protect us,” he said.
