On Thursday, President Trump signed legislation that formally recognizes the sacrifices of firefighters and their elevated risk of cancer.
The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, which passed both houses of Congress in a bipartisan manner. The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Kevin Cramer and Representatives Carlos Gimenes and Mary Gay Scanlon, added essential enhancements to the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits program (PSOB). The PSOB program will now recognize mortality related to occupational cancers, including those faced by wildfire fighters, as line-of-duty deaths.
The Act presumes that twenty types of cancer, for which wildfire firefighters have a higher risk compared to the general population, are occupational diseases. This presumption eliminates the requirement for eligible firefighters and their families to demonstrate a causal link. Covered cancers include those of the skin, kidney, brain, lung, prostate, breast, esophagus, among others.
The legislation grants federal wildfire firefighters a one-time, tax-free payment of $448,575. Additionally, the children and spouses of eligible firefighters who have died from cancer will receive support for college tuition.
The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act is limited to firefighters employed directly by the federal government. Although this represents a substantial advancement in addressing cancer risks, it excludes non-federal firefighters. Representative Bruce Westerman has introduced the Fix Our Forest Act (H.R.471), which seeks to extend comparable compensation to private contractors employed by companies contracted by the federal government. This bill has passed the House of Representatives and is pending a Senate vote.
Although the Act has been enacted, beneficiaries are not yet able to file claims. The new, cancer-related provisions require implementation by the Department of Justice, a process that, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), may take up to a year.
Sources: NYT, Wildfire Today