Firefighters Sport Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

For the next week, residents needing life-saving assistance should expect their rescuers to be donning pink.

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, firefighters ditched their usual dark blue uniforms in favor of pink T-shirts this week to help raise awareness about the deadly disease.

The issue is one that's close to the department, said Monrovia Fire Capt. Mike Cate.

"We wanted to participate in this because we've had three of our members--their spouses have come down with breast cancer," Cate said.

Other than skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer to afflict women in the U.S., according to the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website.

"According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year," the site states. "An estimated 40,170 women are expected to die from the disease in 2009 alone. Today, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States."

Residents who have their own stories about battling breast cancer are .