29-year veteran of the Fort Worth Fire Department is laid to rest
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The Fort Worth Fire Department remembers one of their own as Engineer David Greene was laid to rest Wednesday morning.
A funeral procession snaked around Fort Worth and ended at Doxology Bible Church where Greene's colleagues, friends and family paid their respects.
Greene was a 29-year veteran of the department. He passed away last week due to occupational brain cancer.
"While it was somber, and it was emotional, there was also a few laughs along the way telling stories about David," said Michael Glynn, president of the Fort Worth Firefighters Association Local 440.
Glynn describes him as friendly, dedicated to his job, and always willing to help.
"He was a mentor to young firefighters, willing to show them everything that they needed to know," said Glynn.
Glynn explains it's considered a line-of-duty death-due to Texas' presumptive law, "Then it's presumed that the exposures he or she has had during the course of their career to the different carcinogens whether it be in a fire, the diesel exhaust, just different chemicals we might be exposed to ordinarily."
Glynn told CBS 11 News the dangers of the job keep magnifying as toxins in building structures have changed—and their health needs to be on the forefront when lawmakers decide how to help these fallen heroes.
"They are paying attention to the exposures that we are facing and the impact that it has on our health and even when you get to it, our lives," added Glynn.