VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach Fire Department is mourning the loss of one of their own after master firefighter Matthew Gallina passed away Wednesday afternoon from occupational cancer.
Matt is described as a father, a husband, and a servant to the community of Virginia Beach.
Watch: Virginia Beach firefighter dies of esophageal cancer
"It's hard you know we've lost a valuable team member, our whole organization, you know we're mourning and it's a very hard day," Chief Kenneth Pravetz, of the Virginia Beach Fire Department, said.
Chief Pravetz, said Matt had been serving with the fire department for over 20 years and his current role was as a fire investigator, keeping kids safe and catching arsonists.
Earlier this year News 3 spoke with Matt's wife, Michelle Gallina, on how her husband had been diagnosed last year with stage 4 esophageal cancer.
Matt was presumed to have cancer after taking what's called a Galleri test, which was given to city firefighters last summer.
Watch: Virginia Beach firefighter's wife stresses importance of annual cancer screenings
“He was in excellent shape, worked out every day,” Michelle Gallina told News 3 earlier this year. "So it definitely was a huge impact when we found out there was something brewing."
Chief Pravetz tells News 3 that Matt was a great friend with a wonderful personality and always championed the department's Movember efforts for raising money for prostate cancer.
"He truly was a wonderful man and the citizens owe a little bit of gratitude to Matt for his years of delivering services to the community," Pravetz said. "He was an outstanding firefighter and a great fire investigator, and he really loved and had a passion for this job."
Chief Pravetz said over the years the department has been doing all it can when it comes to lowering crews to the exposure of certain elements that could cause cancer.
This includes cleaning gear and wearing self-contained breathing apparatus.
Watch: Virginia Beach firefighters weigh in on new study linking PFAS, thyroid cancer
"So we realize that the chemicals that we are operating in are much more dangerous than in the past so we have to stay ahead of that curve and we have to strive continuously," Pravetz said.
He said right now firefighters go through a yearly physical but the tools are not in place to include annual screenings for cancer.
"We really need to define and implement the cancer screening tools that we've been talking about for a while much more aggressively and we're hoping we can move the need on that," Pravetz said.
He also said the department is watching proposed potential OSHA regulations that may increase things like medical screenings for firefighters.
"Cancer is the number one killer of the fire service today," Vance Cooper, president of the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association, said.
Watch: Virginia Beach Fire Department captain passes away after cancer battle
Cooper said a few weeks ago a Lynchburg firefighter died of brain cancer and believes 17 firefighters were lost last year around Virginia.
He said most of those deaths were due to cancer.
Cooper said they will continue to go back to the Virginia General Assembly this year to push for more funding for health screenings.
After Matthew's death, Michelle shared a post on Facebook.
"For those of you who knew him he was funny, sarcastic, loyal, and loving!" she wrote. "He was the BEST father to our 3 children. I keep thinking I'll hear his voice in the house, but I don't."
She went on to say his cancer was caused by chronic hazardous exposure during his employment with the VBFD.
"I will fight with everything I have to improve early cancer screening, to improve awareness, and to save the lives of those who serve us daily," she said.
A GoFundMe was set up in support of Gallina and his family.
