Firefighters who spend years running toward danger may soon see long-overdue recognition for a quieter risk that follows them home.
The U.S. Senate has approved the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, expanding federal benefits for firefighters and other public safety officers who are killed or permanently disabled due to certain job-related cancers.
The Lovelock Fire Department announced the vote on Dec. 17, noting the measure passed with strong bipartisan support, 77–20.
If signed into law, the act would broaden eligibility for the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program to include cancers linked to occupational exposure. A change, fire officials say, is especially important for volunteer firefighters, who often face the same hazards as career personnel but with fewer long-term protections. The expanded benefits would apply retroactively to qualifying cases dating back to Jan. 1, 2020.
Fire officials have long pointed to cancer as one of the most serious and underrecognized dangers of the job, particularly in volunteer departments where responders balance emergency calls with full-time work and family responsibilities.
The National Volunteer Fire Council, which has advocated for the legislation for years, said the bill could make a meaningful difference for families left navigating loss or lifelong illness.
“This vital legislation will do a great deal to help the families of first responders who are too often left struggling after their loved ones are killed or permanently disabled after battles with occupation-related cancer,” said NVFC Chair Steve Hirsch, crediting bipartisan leadership in Congress for advancing the measure.
Fire officials said they are now awaiting the President’s signature, which would formally make the expanded benefits law.
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