More firefighters die from suicide every year than from fighting fires.
That number should stop you cold – and it's exactly what Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia was talking about Thursday when he cut $14 million in checks to a dozen fire departments across the Gulf Coast and Central Florida.
He didn't just write the checks and walk away.
Ingoglia Named the Crisis Nobody in Washington Will Touch
Standing at a Hillsborough County fire station, Ingoglia said what most politicians won't.
"They have a very tough time in recovering," Ingoglia said about firefighters struggling with PTSD. "This is something we should talk about more. This is starting to hit epidemic proportions."
He's right – and the numbers are brutal.
Firefighters develop post-traumatic stress at roughly the same rate as combat veterans.
Approximately 20 percent meet the criteria for PTSD at some point in their careers, compared to 6.8 percent for the general public.
The suicide rate for firefighters runs 38 percent higher than the national average.
Washington spent years talking about mental health awareness. Ingoglia is funding the Responders First wellness program and putting $66,500 behind it.
And that's before you get to the cancer.
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Modern fires burn synthetic materials, foam insulation, wiring – all of it releases carcinogens that soak into gear and skin.
Cancer is now the leading cause of death among firefighters. More than 60 percent of firefighter line-of-duty deaths are attributed to occupational cancer.
Hillsborough County Fire Chief Jason Dougherty put it plainly: "Through his leadership, he has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting firefighters and first responders, ensuring departments like ours have the resources necessary to perform our duties safely and effectively."
Where the $14 Million Goes
The largest single award – $3.42 million – went to Pasco County Fire and Rescue.
St. Petersburg Beach Fire Rescue received $3 million, as did Lake Wales Fire Department.
Bartow Fire Department collected $2.4 million. Lakeland Fire Department received $900,000.
Port Richey Fire Department received $800,000, and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue $263,133.
Responders First wellness program received $66,500. Treasure Island Fire Rescue $34,575. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue $24,331. Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District $18,844. New Port Richey Fire Department $7,875. Temple Terrace Fire Department $7,357.
That last line matters. $7,357 to Temple Terrace. Nobody told Ingoglia that was too small to bother with.
Ingoglia Has Done This Every Single Month Since July
Since being appointed CFO by Governor Ron DeSantis in July 2025, Ingoglia has shown up at fire stations across Florida with a check in hand.
$5.5 million in February. $5 million in October. $8.2 million in late October. $1.4 million in September.
The total investment in Florida's firefighters under his tenure now stretches well into eight figures.
That's a pattern.
And it matters because the PTSD crisis Ingoglia named Thursday has been building for years while politicians looked the other way.
Biden's Washington spent four years pouring money into gender studies programs and climate bureaucracies.
Firefighters got awareness campaigns.
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Ingoglia is cutting checks – to the decontamination showers that keep carcinogens off skin, to the Responders First wellness program that answers the phone when a firefighter can't sleep at 3 a.m., to the small departments everyone else forgot.
That last detail is the whole story.
A government that remembers Temple Terrace is a government that actually gives a damn.
Florida's firefighters run into burning buildings, pull people from car wrecks, and watch people die on their worst days – then they go home and try to sleep.
Ingoglia isn't pretending that doesn't leave a mark.
"We do not forget about our first responders," he said. "We do not leave them out in the field."
For too many years, somebody did.
Sources:
- Florida Department of Financial Services, "Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia Awards Nearly $14 Million to Enhance Firefighter Safety and Emergency Response," myfloridacfo.com, March 19, 2026.
- Florida Department of Financial Services, "Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Blaise Ingoglia Awards Over $8.2 Million to Support Florida Firefighters," myfloridacfo.com, October 22, 2025.
- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, "Firefighter Mental Health and Well-being," firehero.org, 2023.
- Ruderman Family Foundation, "Ruderman White Paper on Mental Health and Suicide of First Responders," rudermanfoundation.org, 2018.
- San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation, "NIOSH Firefighter Cancer Study Finds Higher Cancer Rates Among U.S. Firefighters," sffcpf.org, May 2025.
