A group of bicycling firefighters from Chicago have made it to Washington. Washington Fire Chief Dave Rhodes told WAMW the group is riding from Chicago to Nashville Tennessee and taking what he calls “the back roads”. Their purpose is to raise awareness and funds to help their department’s members who have cancer. They want to inform the public of increased risk of developing cancer in the fire service. One of the reasons for the increased risk according to Rich Linski, spokesman for the group, is because firemen are exposed to diesel fumes more than the average individual.
Pinski said the team consists of 13 riders and 6 support vehicles and they generally travel about 90 miles per day. Some of the riders stayed at the the local Baymont Inn last night and Chief Rhoades put up some for the night. They will hit the roads again today and plan to be in Owensboro, Kentucky tonight. So far they have raised around 40 thousand dollars in 6 weeks according to Pinski.
If you would like to donate to the group visit the website: http://www.ignitethespirit.org/