Firefighters are often portrayed as the heroes.
They battle the flames, they rescue victims of crashes, they go into the danger, not away.
But just as often, they're heavily impacted by the job.
Tacoma Fire Chief Tory Green attributes some of the stresses to an increase in call volume in recent years. "We recognize that many of our employees were suffering," Green said.
The department oversees an area of about 240,000 people, comprising the cities of Tacoma, Fife and Fircrest. On a given day, the fire department ensures 79 firefighters at minimum are on-duty.
Green said the burdens are heavy, adding that 37% of firefighters across the nation are qualified clinically for post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.