IT’S been 13 years since the September 11 terror attacks in New York, but the city’s fire department continues to pay the price.

Lt Howard Bischoff, Daniel Heglund and Robert Leaver all died hours apart from each other on Monday from illnesses connected to their rescue efforts at Ground Zero.

The firefighters had been suffering from leukaemia, oesophageal and colon cancer respectively.

Their deaths raise the number of firefighters killed from illnesses related to the Twin Tower attacks to 92.

media_camera Rescue mission ... firefighters walk amid rubble near the base of the destroyed World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001.

And the death toll is likely to rise further with hundreds more firefighters suffering from illnesses linked to polluted air after the hijacked planes crashed into the Manhattan highrises.

NYC Resources September 11 Health Statistics have shown that New York City Fire Department (FDNY) first responders displayed health effects soon after the attacks, with 99 per cent of exposed firefighters reporting at least one new respiratory system illness, the firefighters’ union said.

“On that day when first responders arrived, the air was toxic and remained toxic for many months afterward,” Jake Lemonda of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association said.

media_camera Toxic cloud ... smoke rises following the collapse of the second tower on September 11, 2001.

“We have over 850 firefighters and fire officers, active or retired, who have been diagnosed with September 11-related illnesses.”

Heglund retired in March 2003 after 21 years with the department. Bischoff and Leaver retired in May 2003 after 19 years and 20 years with the department.

Heglund died just one day before his 59th birthday,

“Losing three firefighters on the same day to WTC-related illnesses is a painful reminder that, 13 years later, we continue to pay a terrible price for the Department’s heroic efforts on September 11th,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement.

The firefighters’ names will be added to the memorial wall of FDNY members who died as a result of the attacks.

The lives of 343 men and women from the FDNY were lost in the September 11 recovery effort. The department held ceremonies throughout the city to mark the 13th anniversary earlier this month.

Tribute to FDNY members killed on 9/11

Originally published as Three 9/11 firemen die on the same day