VIDEO: It’s the most dangerous part of being a firefighter: entering a burning structure blind to look for victims. What if a robot could go in first? As these first responders search for people who might be inside the flames, dangers like toxic gases pose life-threatening hazards. Additionally, burning buildings may be unstable and could collapse on those inside at any moment.
- PUB DATE: 10/27/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAN-TV NBC 36 Austin

For years, fire departments have been using a foam laced with toxic chemicals to fight large, fuel-based fires – a new program in Colorado allows fire departments to swap out their original foam with a safer alternative. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has linked cancer and other medical conditions to the chemicals, known as PFAS, in the firefighting foam and are considered "forever chemicals" that are extremely hard to remove from the environment and the human body once they are introduced.
- PUB DATE: 10/27/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KUSA-TV NBC 9 Denver

31-year-old Clay Geiger of Lakeland understands the risks of a firefighter but he never imagined a rare cancer would put his life on the brink and a state law would help him pay for the medical treatments to fight it. “I didn’t have to worry about bills and mortgage and everything like that,” he said,”I was able to just focus on treatment and getting through it.
- PUB DATE: 10/27/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKMG-TV CBS 6 Orlando

After receiving multiple calls from fearful neighbors, fire crews from across Yakima converged on the 600-block of N 20th Ave to combat a fully-involved structure fire on Tuesday night. According to the Yakima Fire Department (YFD), firefighters were called to the residence at 9:32 p.m. on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
- PUB DATE: 10/27/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: YakTriNews

Firefighters in Moses Lake with vaccine exemptions will be able to get back on the frontlines. On Tuesday, the union that represents the city’s firefighters, Moses Lake Firefighters IAFF Local 1258, said the Moses Lake City Council voted 4-3 to approve accommodations for its members. The Moses Lake Fire Department has 33 firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 10/26/2021 10:49:26 PM - SOURCE: KXLY-TV ABC 4 Spokane