Columbus Nebraska Professional Firefighters-Local 1575

07/02/2026

Over the next three days, from 3:00–5:00 PM, Columbus Firefighters will be out handing out popsicles! 🍦🇺🇸

We want to make sure as many kids in the Columbus area as possible get to enjoy a cool treat over the holiday weekend. If you’d like us to stop by your neighborhood, please comment your street and corresponding avenue so we can try to make it there!

Help us spread the word, stay cool, and have a safe holiday weekend, Columbus!

06/22/2026

From the fathers of Local 1575 to yours, we wish you a happy and memorable Father’s Day. Stay safe, Columbus!

05/31/2026

As the Nebraska Professional FireFighters Association’s 79th Convention came to a close yesterday, we wanted to recognize and congratulate someone who has been incredibly important to firefighters across Nebraska.

Brother Dave “Woody” Wordekemper stepped down as our Eastern District Vice President. Dave currently represents District 15 in the Nebraska Legislature and has worked tirelessly on legislation that is important to firefighters across the state.

LB 400 sought to provide stronger protections for Nebraska firefighters diagnosed with cancer by creating a presumption that certain cancers are job-related and therefore eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. The legislation aimed to shift the burden of proof away from firefighters battling cancer and onto employers, recognizing the well-documented occupational cancer risks associated with the fire service.

Local 1575 would like to thank Dave for his years of dedicated service—not only as a firefighter/paramedic, but also as a leader within the IAFF and as a Nebraska state senator. His commitment to improving the lives of firefighters both on and off the job has made a lasting impact across our state.

Congratulations on your service as Eastern District Vice President, Woody, and thank you for everything you continue to do for Nebraska firefighters.

05/10/2026

And today, while others celebrate at home, some of our Fire Fighter/EMS/Emergency 911 Dispatcher moms are still answering the call. Thank you for your strength, sacrifice, and the love you carry both at home and on duty. Happy Mother’s Day

04/01/2026

In 2022, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified occupational exposure as a firefighter as a Group 1 carcinogen ("carcinogenic to humans"), the highest risk level.

Well, this week has been difficult for our members following a fairly emotional past couple months and a tough session at the Nebraska State Legislature. Our cancer presumption bill for fire fighters – LB400, introduced by Senator Dave Wordekemper (pictured – a former Fremont fire fighter) – failed to overcome a filibuster launched by a senator/Bank CEO that claimed our members with cancer are attempting to “bilk” money out of the workman’s comp system.

We’ve shared information about the bill with you before, but simply put, this would have changed presumption for our fire fighters that are diagnosed with cancer from the fire fighter battling cancer to their employer. That’s it – as our profession is directly linked with much higher cancer rates than the general population due to the hazards and carcinogens we’re exposed to regularly, we wanted the burden to show that the cancer is related/not related to the job to shift from the person that suddenly has to battle cancer to the municipality that has their own lawyers.

We worked hard to share all the information, statistics, and insight into our profession with our legislators – the majority of whom understood what this bill would have meant to our fire fighters with cancer – but faced opposition from about 17 senators, falling just one vote.

Here in the Omaha metro area, while we had some great support from many of our local legislators (and THANK YOU to those that supported it!) our bill was ultimately defeated after not receiving a “yes” vote from Senators Bob Andersen, Christy Armendariz, and Rita Sanders.

This bill is too important for us to simply shrug and tell our members fighting cancer to keep asking their coworkers to donate sick leave, keep paying their lawyers, and keep fighting to prove their cancer was the result of their job while fighting cancer to return to that same job where they have a chance to serve. We’ll continue to educate, continue to fight for our members with cancer and their families, and continue to bring this bill, and our members, to the state legislature to advocate for what is right. Thank you to our supporters that called their senators, e-mailed, shared info with friends and neighbors, and helped us get this bill as far as it did….we appreciate you all, and will continue to share ways you can help when this bill comes back in the future!