VIDEO: Pregnant firefighters across the nation are struggling with their departments’ reproductive health policies. A nonprofit created in Washington is working to change that.

Maia Brown has been a firefighter in Washington for 14 years. She said when she first started working, the thought that her career had any effect on her reproductive health never came to mind.

“But as time passed, something inspired me to look into it,” she said. And when she did look into it, Brown said she found that most of the research focused on male firefighters.

“But it didn’t seem like too far of a stretch to imagine that if it’s affecting the men, it’s affecting the women too,” Brown said.

The exposures at play include toxins from fighting active fires, heat, stress, sleep disruption, chemicals in cleaning supplies, and exhaust in the apparatus bay, to name a few.

So, back in 2018, Brown started a website, meant to be a placeholder for the research she could find. “Over time it’s evolved,” she said. “There’s become such an incredible community of people that are also invested in this.”

KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

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VIDEO/PHOTOS: As cooler weather begins to hint at fall in Washington, fire officials warn it “couldn’t be further from the truth as far as an end in sight for wildfire season.”

Thomas Kyle-Milward, DNR’S Wildfire Communications Manager, said the Hill Loop Fire in Stevens County “popped onto the landscape last night” at 127 acres.

He said the state now has 15 large uncontained fires on the landscape with more than 800,000 acres burned so far this year.

“Washington is comfortably in the third-worst fire season from an acres burned perspective since 2015,” said Kyle-Milward. He called this year’s wildfire season very challenging, noting that the state has had multiple fires over 100,000 acres.

He also referenced the tragedy in Spokane, the structure loss there, and said Oregon is also going through a really tough fire season, which has led to stretched resources across the region and a very challenging season on the ground for firefighters and those folks behind the scenes who support them.

KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

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The Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department is retiring the engine that first responded to the Flight 93 crash site.

The post Shanksville (PA) Fire Department Retiring Engine That Responded to Flight 93 Crash on 9/11 appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

Erie County Health Department delivered 297 trauma response bags to first responders.

The post Erie County (OH) Health Department Delivers Trauma Bags to First Responders appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

Cedar Falls City Council approved a $62,000 agreement with SVPA Architects to study the future of Public Safety Station No. 2.

The post Cedar Falls (IA) Council Chooses Firm to Research Replacing Public Safety Station No. 2 appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.