Arizona Lawmakers Work On Survivor Benefit Bill
Arizona state lawmakers are working on legislation that would pay survivor benefits to the families of the 13 part-time firefighters who died in Yarnell Hill Fire back in June.
Six of the 19 firefighters who died were full time employees. Those families will receive the yearly salaries of their husbands until they pass away or remarry. The other 13 did not have benefits. One widow and her children qualified for only $18,000 in worker’s compensation.
State Rep. Mark Cardenas said the bill is about correcting an oversight in the system.
“They put their lives on the line for their community,” Cardenas said. “They put their lives on the line for the state. And we have that obligation to ensure their families are taken care of.”
Cardenas said the legislation will also cover anyone in the future who dies in the line of duty in the state. He hopes the bill will be ready for a vote in January.
