Lakeland Fire + Safety Launches New FireFlex Elite L-100 Structural Firefighting Boot

NFPA Certified FireFlex Elite L-100 Boot Delivers Unparalleled Comfort, Protection and Durability for Today’s Extreme Firefighting Environment

New Certified Products and Expanded PPE Options to be Showcased at FDIC 2026 April 20-25

Production Set to Commence for Fulfillment of Pre-Orders Received

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., April 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ("Lakeland Fire + Safety" or "Lakeland") (NASDAQ: LAKE), a leading global manufacturer of protective clothing and apparel for industry, healthcare and first responders, today announced that the new Lakeland has officially achieved NFPA 1970:2025 certification, further strengthening Lakeland’s NFPA certified head-to-toe firefighter Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) portfolio. This certification follows ongoing NFPA 1970:2025 certifications for a range of products across Lakeland’s brand portfolio.

The NFPA 1970:2025 certification sets the new consolidated standard for firefighting boots, focusing on enhanced structural and proximity protection, stringent third-party certification, and specific safety requirements. Key criteria include minimum 8-inch height, melt-resistant soles, flame-resistant components, and puncture protection. The new FireFlex Elite-L100 Structural Firefighting Boot combines mobility, protection, and durability firefighters rely on in demanding structural firefighting conditions. As part of Lakeland’s growing head-to-toe PPE offering, it gives departments a high-performance footwear solution backed by a trusted protective gear provider.

“We continue to rapidly advance our NFPA 1970:2025 full head-to-toe certification pipeline, with the new FireFlex Elite-L100 Boot adding to recent certifications for Gloves, Hoods, Helmets, Structural Turnout and Proximity Gear,” said Jim Jenkins, President and CEO of Lakeland. “We expect to begin Boot production quickly and begin fulfilling pre-orders, which reflects our strong reputation and ability to deliver products with the highest levels of quality and safety. A second Boot in the NFPA product line is planned for mid- to late fall and is already prototyped and in prototype production, with a third boot likely to follow in less than a year.

“With our products gaining strong traction in the market, certification builds on that success for customers with NFPA 1970:2025 certified gear across our entire brand portfolio. Ongoing certifications for our head-to-toe product portfolio also strengthens our market position as a premier innovator in firefighter PPE and establishes new industry benchmarks for performance and safety. We look forward to showcasing new certified products and expanded PPE options at FDIC 2026 taking place next week April 20-25, 2026, in Indianapolis, including gear designed to meet the latest NFPA 1970 turnout gear standards,” concluded Jenkins.

About Lakeland Fire + Safety

Lakeland Fire + Safety manufactures and sells a comprehensive line of fire services and industrial protective clothing and accessories for the industrial and first responder markets. In addition, we provide decontamination, repair and rental services that complement our fire services portfolio. Our products are sold globally by our in-house sales teams, our customer service group, and authorized independent sales representatives to a strategic global network of selective fire and industrial distributors and wholesale partners. Our authorized distributors supply end users across various industries, including integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, automobile, transportation, steel, glass, construction, smelting, cleanroom, janitorial, pharmaceutical, and high-tech electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific, medical laboratories, and the utilities industry. In addition, we supply federal, state and local governmental agencies and departments, including fire and law enforcement, airport crash rescue units, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control. Internationally, we sell to a mix of end-users directly and to industrial distributors, depending on the particular country and market. In addition to the United States, sales are made into more than 50 foreign countries, the majority of which were into China, the European Economic Community ("EEC"), Canada, Chile, Argentina, Commonwealth of Independent States (“CIS”) Region, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, India, Uruguay, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Hong Kong and New Zealand.

For more information about Lakeland, please visit the Company's website at .

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release contains estimates, predictions, opinions, goals and other "forward-looking statements" as that phrase is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, without limitation, references to the Company's predictions or expectations of future business or financial performance as well as its goals and objectives for future operations, financial and business trends, business prospects, and management's expectations for earnings, revenues, expenses, inventory levels, capital levels, liquidity levels, or other future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations, including without limitation our M&A strategy and tariff mitigation plans. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address Lakeland's expectations of sources or uses for capital, or which express the Company's expectation for the future with respect to financial performance or operating strategies, can be identified as forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as described from time to time in press releases and Forms 8-K, registration statements, quarterly and annual reports and other reports and filings filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission or made by management. As a result, there can be no assurance that Lakeland's future results will not be materially different from those described herein as "believed," "projected," "planned," "intended," "anticipated," "can," "estimated" or "expected," or other words which reflect the current view of the Company with respect to future events. We caution readers that these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company hereby expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which such statement is based, except as may be required by law.

Investor Relations

Chris Tyson

Executive Vice President

MZ Group - MZ North America

949-491-8235

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at