Governor Holcomb has signed a bill into law designed to protect the health of current and former firefighters in Indiana.

The Act, authored by State Representative Maureen Bauer of South Bend, creates a program for the Department of Homeland Security to monitor the levels of toxic P-FAS  substances in the blood of 1000 current and former firefighters.

Firefighters exposed to those chemicals while on the job have been linked to a number of health problems — including certain cancers.

At the signing, Representative Bauer was joined by family members of recently deceased South Bend firefighters Josh Comeau and Mike Brown, and South Bend Fire Chief Carl Buchanon.