During their last regular meeting, Key Biscayne Council members voted to approve a $75,000 death benefit to the beneficiary of Ronald Erbel, a longtime Village firefighter and paramedic who lost his life to cancer after putting his own life in jeopardy to assist others in the 9/11 attacks in New York.
And, there might be more honors coming his way soon, according to Mayor Joe Rasco.
Erbel’s widow, Victoria Jackson, spoke during public comments at last week’s Council meeting, saying her husband enjoyed his line of work for more than 40 years, 17 years as a volunteer and 26 more as a full-time employee:
“He was part of a special task force, under the watch of Key Biscayne,” when he traveled to New York. “Unfortunately, Ron wound up with multiple cancers.
“He is a true hero,” she added, noting that he has been recognized by the State of Florida, the country, and even internationally as a member of the International Association of Fire Fighters’ Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado Springs, CO.
Victoria Jackson and Ron Erbel.
Erbel passed away on April 9, 2022, at the age of 70. Now, nearly two years later, Jackson is flustered that the Village took this long to issue the benefit and has sunk its heels on another important issue to her.
Jackson hoped the Council would honor his death benefits and “acknowledge it was a line-of-duty death,” something that has yet to happen, although Erbel was among six members assigned to the special task force from the Key Biscayne Fire Rescue department.
Even the World Trade Center came through and paid for his medical bills, she said, linking his cancers to his service in New York.
“He deserves the line-of-duty death (honor),” Jackson said. “He was working full-time as a firefighter.”
Erbel had spent 17 days in New York City after the 2001 terror attack on the Twin Towers. He worked as part of a specialized FEMA search and rescue team that included four others from the Key Biscayne Fire Rescue Department, working in the ruins.
It was there that he and hundreds of firefighters were exposed to chemicals and toxins that later resulted in cancer diagnoses and ultimate death for many of them.
Last September, a report on NPR showed that the number of firefighters and paramedics who were among the heroes in the 9/11 attacks and who have now died from World Trade Center-related illnesses reached 343, the same number of deaths that occurred at Ground Zero that somber day.
Ron once recalled his greatest contributions to living a rich life: “I have been able to give back and save lives.”
Erbel’s widow also has been courageous in many ways, particularly as a breast cancer survivor.
She pointed to a statute that says, “If you are a retired firefighter and get cancer (from the job), then you’re entitled to a line-of-duty death (benefit).”
When contacted later in the week, Mayor Rasco said, “I’m working on the ‘line of duty’ issue and hope to resolve it soon.”
Legal issues and clarity of definitions pertaining to Village firefighters have not been unusual.
At the Village Council meeting of Oct. 29, 2019, for instance, Erbel himself addressed Council members seven months after first undergoing cancer treatments. He said he hoped they would do “the right thing” when an issue pertaining to medical benefits, outside of Florida’s State Cancer Benefit Bill, during “lost time” was muddied in union legalese between the Village and the collective bargaining employees.
In March of that year, Erbel was aware he had cancer. “That was my last day of work,” he said, of the day he was told, before officially retiring in July. So, he was simply looking for coverage between March and July, an issue that became complex over the course of time.
Ron Erbel.
At that October 2019 meeting, then-Mayor Mike Davey spearheaded a 7-0 vote, part of a Memorandum of Understanding from the Key Biscayne Professional Firefighters Association, Local 3638, to provide those extra four months of medical benefits for Erbel and another Village firefighter, Angela Herrera, who was diagnosed with breast cancer after her mission to the World Trade Center as part of the same task force.
That benefit provided for a $25,000 cancer payout and cancer treatments “at no cost” from the state, according to labor employer attorney Milton Collins, who added that the union’s “line of duty” paid leave only covers 30 days.
At the meeting, then-Council member Luis Lauredo said, “This is the most fair thing. … This community is supposed to be a family … we’ve got to take care of our No. 1 asset, which is our employees.”
Now, the official “line of duty” benefit, which Mayor Rasco is looking into, would not only provide direct funds for all of the funeral costs but also give Jackson a homestead tax break from the state.
Jackson said she is thankful for the Village’s $75,000 death beneficiary payout. “Of course, I appreciate the Council voting on this death benefit. Of course. Thank you for agreeing that this benefit (is deserved). But there are other issues that need to be addressed.”
She noted that she had already personally covered the costs of the funeral (which some 500 people attended), services, and cremation.
“I’m not looking for money,” she said. “It is about the principle. It’s something Ron did deserve.”
In fact, before he passed, she and Ron decided to start a scholarship in his name as a tribute, the Ron Erbel Scholarship for firefighters and their children and grandchildren, through the Key Biscayne Community Foundation.
But, she’d like to see something else that would honor the man who was a volunteer firefighter on the island long before an official department was formed; someone who planted many of the early trees around Key Biscayne while working in his Good Earth Landscaping business.
Jackson said Erbel restored the city’s original fire truck by hand, “giving a year of his life to do that.” He later donated the classic vehicle, which now is a mainstay in the July 4 parade and available for everyone to see at the firehouse.
Jackson said the Village wanted to put a plaque with Erbel’s name on the vintage fire truck, “but that would be like re-gifting.”
Some other suggestions in the mix include putting his name on the new trucks, the firehouse, or even the side street where the building is located.
Addressing Jackson’s thoughts on possible special tributes, Mayor Rasco was empathetic this past week, saying: “We are actively looking for ways to honor Ron Erbel’s outstanding contributions to our best-in-class fire department.”
For Jackson, who knows if any special recognition could ever ease the pain of the loss of a loved one?
“The sadness will never go away,” she said. “I’m fighting for a principle. I know I’d have to do it in the honor of my husband.”