Your Vista Firefighters are excited to announce our 6th Annual Hop highway Fundraiser on Sunday June 4th from 5-9 pm!! Once again we will be partnering with Belching Beaver Pub 980, located at 980 Park Center Drive, in Vista, Ca. This is a fundraising, firefighter home brew competition, with the first-place team taking home the coveted first place fire helmet trophy!
This year your Vista Firefighters will be honoring two recipients at the Hop Highway Brew Off- Chula Vista Fire Captain Dangkhoa “DQ” Nguyen, and City of Goodyear Engineer/Paramedic Gilbert Aguirre.
On March 31, 2023, Chula vista Fire Department Captain Dangkhoa “DQ” Nguyen’s life was forever changed when he was diagnosed with occupational Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
Captain Nguyens giving nature and servants heart may have saved his life. His last platelet donation in March led to the early detection of his leukemia. Ngyuen was at the Red Cross Blood Donation Center in Kearny Mesa to donate his platelets- something he had been doing one or two times a month – for over 20 years. The staff at Red Cross detected an anomaly in his blood and recommended he see his doctor. Ngyuen was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with leukemia two days later. Captain Nguyen’s treatment has involved chemotherapy for the last month, and he will receive outpatient treatment for an additional five months.
Gilbert Aguirre is an Engineer/Paramedic with the City of Goodyear in Arizona. His story goes far beyond the trauma of his diagnosis and fight to survive cancer.
Gilbert has been in the fire service for over 20 years as a member of United Goodyear Firefighters L4005 and is a true public servant. He has been married to his beautiful wife Tiffanie for just as long, and they have three amazing boys.
In May of 2015, Fire Engineer Aguirre was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)- a type of cancer that starts in the bone marrow, then invades the blood. Aguirre was just 35 years old at the time.
Unfortunately, in 2015 his CML was not immediately considered a work-related illness. Although his cancer (Leukemia) is on the original presumptive cancer bill for work-related cancer, and although he met every criterion, his claim was denied by his City’s workers compensation company.
Ironically, there have been substantive changes to Arizona’s cancer presumption laws for firefighters- in part because Gilbert has spent years lobbying and testifying to protect his fellow firefighters-yet the courts continue to deny his work-related claim. A 2021 change in state law makes it easier for firefighters to get workers compensation for cancer- they no longer must prove that the cancer was caused by work related toxins. But the bill does not contain a retroactivity clause.
The denials of coverage have forced Gilbert and his family to declare bankruptcy. His prescriptions for chemotherapy- which are keeping him alive- cost 15,000 dollars a month. “The cost of that medication is steep. I’ll try to keep working, I guess, until my body can’t hold up anymore” Aguirre said.
Tickets for the event are available for purchase at vistafirefighters.com. We are always happy to receive donations from our community partners. For donations please email Josh Spann at joshjspann@yahoo.com, or reach out through our social media platforms- Facebook at www.facebook.com/VistaFirefightersLocal4107 , or Instagram @vistafirefighters. For media inquiries, please reach out to Brendan Halle through our social media platforms as well.
