Comp Claim Accepted Just Before Alaska Firefighter Dies

The municipality of Anchorage has agreed that a firefighter’s cancer was caused by his work and that his family is entitled to additional benefits.

Andy Mullen, who died of the disease last week, was exposed to burning wires 13 years ago. He filed a workers’ compensation claim six months ago.

City claims adjustors initially disputed the compensation claim, but Mullen and the city reached an agreement 12 days before he died.

Eric Croft, Mullen’s attorney and a former Democratic state legislator, says the case was the first test of Alaska’s “firefighter presumption” law.

Under the 2-year-old law, firefighters are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if they develop certain types of cancer after documented exposure to known carcinogens while on the job.