DC Fire Lieutenant Robery Heaney died after a battle with cancer. An illness the fire department now recognizes as occupational and the fire chief has declared his death in the line of duty. News4’s Paul Wagner reports.
Everyone called him “Big Red.” A mountain of a man who towered over others but was known for his calming presence, especially on the fireground.
DC Fire Lieutenant Robert Heaney died earlier this week after a battle with bladder cancer. He was 49.
Heaney leaves behind a legacy of service to D.C. and is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
Wayne Reed worked with Heaney on rescue squad two, a demanding job that often places firefighters in some of the most stressful situations.
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“I called him the calm in the chaos, like it didn’t matter how bad it was. The dude was just real chill and if you ever had the hair standing up on the back of your neck and you would look at him and see he was chill it smoothed everything back out for you,” Reed said.
He said Heaney was always making everyone around him better.
“Probably one of the best leaders we ever had,” Reed said.
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Heaney had battled bladder cancer, now recognized as an occupational cancer in the fire service, since 2023.
Black bunting remains draped over the doors of rescue squad two in Petworth, where Heaney spent the last years of his 24-year-long career.
“This is hard, Rob was a firefighter that everyone respected, he put in a lot of time in with some very busy companies. He was a leader, he helped everybody be better but not only that Rob’s a family man,” Chief John Donnelly said as he held back tears.
With Heaney’s death classified as the result of line of duty, his family will be taken care of.
Donnelly says the fire service now has data showing firefighters are exposed to elements that may develop certain types of cancers and the list continues to grow.
The firefighters union is working to get other types of cancers added to the list that could be considered occupational.
“He is only 49 years old and it's incredibly uncommon for somebody his age to get an illness like that, and his doctors said that without a doubt this is related to the fact that you were a firefighter," said Dave Hoagland, president of the DC Firefighter's Union.