Louisville -- Firefighters in Louisville and Kentucky are breathing a sigh of relief now that a new state law went into effect on Monday.
When Lexington firefighter Brenda Cowan was shot and killed answering an emergency call last year, it was decided emergency workers should have the same protection as peace officers.
And there should be tough penalties for those who would harm them.
Firefighters have a great many things to protect them ont he job, a helmet a coat, boots, they also have something else to protect them now.
For 20 years, Captain Dale Garrett has been a firefighter and an EMT at Highview Fire District. He and others know what they do saves lives but sometimes not everyone is glad a firefighter is on the scene.
"We have problems every now and then," says Garrett. "And with this new law going into effect it reassures us if something does happen and we get assaulted then there is consequences."
In Kentucky, it is now a felony to assault an emergency worker while they do their job.
On February 13th, 2004, Cowan responded to a call of a woman down. After she arrived on the scene, Cowan became the victim.
"You get a call on a person down in the yard or on the side of the road, you are not expecting some one sitting in a window with a high powered rifle waiting for you to pull up. That is not what you are think about," says Highview Chief Rick Larkins
Police and other law enforcement have been covered by this kind of law for several years and many wonder why it took so long to cover firefighters and emergency workers.
"It usually takes something serious or even worse to bring a problem to light," says Garrett.
Some firefighters say they will go on doing what they do best.
"I think it is a rare thing that something is going to happen to us from the public," says Josh Lile, a firefighter with Highview for three and a half months. "We have other things to worry about then that and if it does it feels great knowing there will be repercussions on that."
So now that the law is in place, most firefighters say they hope it will never be used and everyone will be smart enough to know not to commit a felony.