IAFF Mourns Rob Hall, Vancouver Local 18 Member

September 27, 2007 – Rob Hall, a Vancouver fire fighter who fought tirelessly on behalf of fire fighters across British Columbia was remembered at a solemn memorial service September 5. He died August 27 at the age of 51 after a valiant year-long battle with occupational colon cancer.

Secretary-treasurer of the British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters Association (BCPFFA) and a member of Vancouver, BC Local 18 until illness forced him to relinquish the post earlier this year, Hall was diagnosed with the disease shortly after returning from the 48th IAFF Convention in Toronto in 2006.

He is survived by his wife and five children.

IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger attended the memorial and delivered an emotional eulogy, praising his dedication to the IAFF, his deep love for his family and the respect he earned as a fire fighter.

“You should know,” Schaitberger said to Hall’s family, “that for the time he may have missed spending with you while tending to his calling — this IAFF and his fire fighting sisters and brothers — he was truly busy in a life’s work that made a profound difference for so many on our job now and for generations to come.”

Schaitberger added that Hall’s fellow fire fighters “will tell you he is one of the best fire fighters they ever knew; he was the one you wanted to face danger with. As an acting captain, his lead was the one you would follow down a charged hallway, confident in what you were doing and secure in his command.”

Schaitberger presented Hall’s family with the IAFF’s Martin E. Pierce Line-of-Duty Death Medal.

In recent years, Hall had played a key role in the BCPFFA’s successful lobby for presumptive cancer legislation, which was enacted in 2005. His cancer is one that is now covered under workers compensation rules for the province’s professional fire fighters.

Hall’s loss has been a tough one for the many people across Canada and the United States who he came to know him due to his active role in the IAFF.
Ten Canadians die annually due to occupational cancers among Canadian IAFF members.