The U.S. Fire Administration’s (USFA) annual report on firefighter fatalities in the United States is now available for 2018.
ALSO: 119 Fallen Firefighters to be Honored at National Memorial
Eighty-two firefighters died while on duty.
- 44 were volunteer firefighters.
- 33 were career firefighters.
- 5 were wildland firefighters.
The 2018 report identifies all on-duty fatalities to increase understanding of their causes and how they can be prevented. Topics covered include type of duty, cause and nature of injury, multiple fatality incidents, firefighter ages, time of injury, and incidents by state.
Some additional findings from the report:
- 82 firefighters died while on duty.
- 33 firefighters died from heart attacks.
- 42 firefighters died from activities related to an emergency incident.
- 30 firefighters died from activities at a fire scene.
- 9 firefighters died while participating in training activities.
- 10 firefighters died while responding to or returning from emergency incidents.
The USFA’s study “Firefighter Fatalities in the United States” is to identify and analyze all on-duty firefighter fatalities to increase understanding of their causes and how they can be prevented. The study is intended to help identify approaches that could reduce the number of deaths in future years.
