When 44-year-old D.C. firefighter Kevin McRae died in the line of duty it wasn't the flames or falling debris that caused his death.
McRae, like many other firefighters, died because of a heart attack while climbing in full gear to help put out a blaze at an apartment building in Shaw.
About 66 percent of firefighter deaths in the line of duty are from heart attacks, making it the number one cause of line of duty deaths for firefighters.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is meeting in Washington to spread the word and change some old habits. The men and women who risk their lives can do a lot more to save themselves from cardiovascular disease.Steve Tullis of Hinsdale, Ill. became a firefighter after his dad died in the line of duty from a heart attack.
"I thought that 'firefighters don't die of a heart attack'. I was under the assumption that they died deep in a fire trying to save a life," Tullis said.
Michael Hamrock, a former firefighter turned physician, says a cultural change is needed in most firehouses.
"It's my opinion that a lot of these diseases are preventable if firefighters took care of themselves and we had a fitness program, get very aggressive physicals," Hamrock said.