Newsday

Since her firefighter husband died of a heart attack nearly four years ago after responding to an emergency, Kathleen Shea hasn't received a penny in death benefits despite a 2003 federal law that indicated she was entitled to them.

She learned this week that the Department of Justice reversed a previous denial and determined she was entitled to benefits under the 2003 Hometown Heroes Law. The law extends federal benefits to the survivors of firefighters, police officers and other first responders killed by heart attacks or strokes while on duty.

The DOJ denied benefits to Shea and scores of other families around the country, arguing that language in the law indicated they were ineligible because their family members died during "routine" activities.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who sponsored the original legislation introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, helped Shea and other families appeal the DOJ decisions because he said responding to an emergency was "inherently non-routine." Now that the DOJ has reversed several of these denials, family members of first responders around the country are less likely to face the same struggle Shea did.

Shea said she was surprised by the DOJ's "lack of understanding of what actually goes on when the fire horn goes off, and the position it puts everyone in _ including the families."

"I'm glad I fought the fight, I am glad it was reversed," she said. "I hope no one else will have to go through what I've gone through."

So far, four out of four appeals have resulted in benefits for families. Nearly 40 more families around the country still have to go through the appeal process.

"To them it's far more than the dollars," Schumer said in a phone interview. "It's just being remembered and not being treated poorly after their husbands their fathers made the ultimate sacrifice."

Elsmere Fire Chief Kevin Shea died when his fire department responded to an odor of smoke in a nursing home while the infirmed residents were being evacuated from the building by staff.

Eventually determining that the building was safe, Kevin Shea returned to the firehouse momentarily and suffered a heart attack in his car, in front of the station. Less than forty minutes had passed since the initial call.

Schumer took part in a Senate Judiciary Hearing in October, pushing the DOJ to reverse its decision and to grant the Shea family benefits.

"This is Thanksgiving, and not only does the Shea family have something to be thankful for, but firefighters across the county do, because it's clear the Justice Department is changing its policy," Schumer said.

The DOJ created a directive that clarified which activities are considered "non-routine," which included responding to an emergency call.

Domingo Herraiz, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, testified that, "I have recently provided binding direction to my staff regarding application of this term ... this direction makes clear that all responses to emergency calls will be considered presumptively non-routine."

"I'd rather have him, but obviously that's not going to change," Shea said. "Bottom line, I'm very happy for future families, and God forbid there should be a whole lot of future families."

She said she had not learned how much of a benefit she and her daughter would receive, or when she could expect it.

Harvard researchers found the risk of death from heart disease was highest during active firefighting _ up to 100 times greater than the risk of dying during administrative work _ though firefighting made up no more than 5 percent of a firefighters' time. Increased risk of death was also found for other emergency duties such as responding to a call and returning from the scene of a fire.

About 100 firefighters die in the line of duty each year and previous research has shown that nearly half of the deaths are due to heart disease.

The study, published earlier this year in the New England Journal of Medicine, doesn't address whether firefighters have an overall higher risk of dying from heart disease than the general population.