"Sitting before the D.C. Council in a crisp blue dress shirt, Lt. Preston L. Williams Jr. recounted the day he was first diagnosed with the cancer that was slowly killing him.

It seemed to be “the longest day of my life,” when “time stood still,” the firefighter said in advocating for new health and retirement benefits he wouldn’t live to see.

Over a five-year period, Williams was diagnosed three times with prostate cancer. He said he believed he was sickened by the fumes and chemicals that leached into his skin and seeped into his lungs during his more than 20 years battling fires."

Peter Hermann and Lynh Bui report for the Washington Post February 24, 2017. [2]