PHOTO: Every day, firefighters risk their lives to keep us safe. COVID-19 has only made that risk even greater. Just ask Glendale Fire Department Captain Anthony Valverde.
"If you're having a hard time breathing, and I know you're positive for COVID, I'm still gonna do anything I can," said Valverde. He went from helping patients fight COVID to fighting the virus himself.
"It was scary," said Valverde. "It was something that I never experienced before."
He believes he caught COVID while working. Captain Ashley Losch says he's not the only one.
"We're at about 250 sworn members that are working in the field, and 85 have been positive," said Losch. "It's a huge percentage of our workforce." Crews are usually transporting several COVID patients each day, coming very close to the virus.