In old gumboots, daggy cotton overalls and rubber gloves, Mark Bransgrove dug through the charred remains of buildings and belongings, looking for the cause of the carnage around him; like a bloodhound, he followed his expertly trained nose through the destruction, painstakingly sifting through the remnants of lives and property lost.
asserted
he → dig → lives
Trying to find a fire’s ignition point, he would bend down, scoop up handfuls of scorched debris, bring them to his face and inhale.
asserted
he → try → face
In the 1980s and 1990s, he and fellow crime scene investigators were trained that the best way to find the start and cause of a blaze was to follow your nose; the sharp scent of petrol told him he was investigating an arson.
asserted
he → train → arson
Something more subtle called for extra digging.
asserted
Something → call → digging
Face masks, which could hinder their ability to identify possible causes, weren’t part of the standard-issue uniform; when the communal storeroom ran out, investigators bought their own.
uncertain
investigators → hinder → own
In early 2024 – almost seven years into retirement – a trip to the toilet rang alarm bells for the former detective sergeant: there was blood in his urine.
asserted
trip → ring → urine
He was alert to the health risks his career had probably posed and, within weeks, testing confirmed his fears.
asserted
testing → pose → fears
He was diagnosed with stage four urothelial carcinoma, a cancer of cells lining the bladder that can be caused by prolonged exposure to harmful chemicals.
asserted
that → diagnose → chemicals
“It’s all through you,” an oncologist said.
asserted
oncologist → ’ → you
Bransgrove’s work had caught up with him.
asserted
work → catch → him
Well before cancer claimed Bransgrove in July last year, he and his family were sure that almost 20 years of combing through crime scenes had caused his illness; a report by Sydney occupational hygienist Alan Rogers found his cancer was likely to have been a result of his sustained exposure to carcinogenic fire residues.
asserted
cancer → claim → residues
Eighteen months of treatment had cost him and his wife, Elizabeth, $130,000.
asserted
months → cost → 130,000
The Bransgroves also encountered a gaping hole in NSW legislation designed to protect first responders that has left grieving families out of pocket and without proper recognition of the toll of their loved ones’ service.
asserted
that → encounter → service
Under the Workers Compensation Act, firefighters – paid or volunteer – who develop any of a listed 22 cancers are presumed to have developed the illness due to their work, including from exposure to chemicals and toxic residue.
asserted
who → pay → chemicals
That presumption, however, does not cover police officers tasked with examining the same crime scenes as firefighters and they are required to prove their work caused their illness.
asserted
work → cover → illness
In the 15 months since her husband’s death, Elizabeth has been advocating for recognition of officers like him who died as a result of protecting the community.
asserted
who → advocate → community
Now, with the backing of the state’s police union, she is lobbying the state government to right wrongs of the past and legislate changes – “Mark’s Law” – to put the men and women in blue on a level playing field.
asserted
she → lobby → field
NSW Work Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis declined to be interviewed about proposed changes to presumptive cancer laws.
asserted
Cotsis → decline → laws
“We will continue to monitor this closely and are open to hearing from workers, their families and unions about ways in which the system can be improved,” a government spokesperson said in response to questions.
asserted
spokesperson → continue → questions
“Mark’s life has got to matter,” Elizabeth tells this masthead.
asserted
Elizabeth → get → masthead
“His life counts.”
asserted
life → count → ?
When NSW Police overhauled its policies in the early 2000s and introduced additional protective equipment for forensics officers, Bransgrove had spent almost 20 years exposed to toxic chemicals.
asserted
Bransgrove → overhaul → chemicals
As officers who moved into other areas of policing avoided the same prolonged exposure, veteran colleagues spent decades unaware their work was slowly killing them.
asserted
work → move → them
In mid-2024, Stephen Horn, the state’s longest serving crime scene investigator, died of cancer.
asserted
Horn → serve → cancer
The detective senior sergeant had retired in 2018 after more than four decades examining sites, including fires.
asserted
sergeant → retire → fires
When Bransgrove received his own diagnosis months earlier, Horn, who had trained him in the 1980s, was among the first former colleagues he shared the news with.
asserted
he → receive → news
“That’s the same cancer I’ve got,” Horn told him.
asserted
Horn → ’ → him
“It’s a bastard of a cancer.”
asserted
It → ’ → cancer
“The stoicism shown in your battle against such an insidious disease, and without complaint, was nothing less than admirable,” Brenda Horn said of her husband in a tribute at his funeral.
asserted
Horn → show → funeral
“Dedicated to your job after a long career of public service and caring about others, you deserved so much more than what you endured.”
asserted
you → dedicate → what
Unlike Bransgrove, though, Horn’s death has not been deemed to have been caused by his decades of exposure.
asserted
death → deem → exposure
“He’d be the first one to go into a scene, and he’d be the last one to come out,” his widow tells this masthead at her Sydney home.
asserted
widow → go → home
“He would have been exposed to anything and everything.”
asserted
He → expose → anything
Two other cases involving former colleagues with similar diagnoses point to a cancer cluster within NSW Police’s fire investigators, Rogers’ report concluded.
asserted
report → involve → investigators
For firefighters, because of exposure to carcinogens and toxic residue, the risk of developing bladder cancer is 16 per cent higher than for a member of the public, according to Rogers’ findings; for police fire investigators, the risk is up to 700 per cent higher.
uncertain
risk → develop → investigators
Rogers – a friend of Bransgrove – found his case and those of former colleagues “strongly support the finding of a high increased incremental risk of bladder cancer other than could be expected purely by way of chance”.
uncertain
case → find → chance
When Bransgrove was diagnosed, he and his family were sure his work was the cause of his cancer.
asserted
work → diagnose → cancer
Being able to prove it, though, was a different story.
asserted
Being → prove → it
As her husband’s health deteriorated, Elizabeth, determined to have the cost of his service recognised, compiled a record of his career and probable instances of exposure.
asserted
cost → deteriorate → exposure
A 26-page dossier, compiled with the help of close friends and former colleagues, outlined decades of jobs he’d attended, including some of the state’s most notorious crimes, to present his case.
asserted
he → compile → case
…and 56 more, not listed.
The Aporia
