VANCOUVER - The British Columbia government is adding three types of cancer to those that could be considered occupational diseases suffered by firefighters.
A release from the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training says breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple myeloma will be added to the Firefighters Occupational Disease Regulation under the Workers Compensation Act.
Firefighters developing those diseases after a certain period of time on the job would be eligible for workers' compensation benefits without having to prove the cancer is work-related.
The province says it first recognized certain cancers as occupational diseases for firefighters in 2005.
A list of those cancers has now grown to 10 and includes brain, bladder and testicular cancer, as well as leukemia.
The release from the ministry says in 2014, heart disease and heart injury were also restored as illnesses presumed to be conditions developed by firefighters.
