National Fire Protection Association

Quincy, MA, May 14, 2001--Heart attacks continued to be the leading cause of fatal on-duty injury to U.S. firefighters (40 deaths, or 39% of all firefighter deaths) last year, according to a report just released from NFPA. There were 102 on-duty firefighter deaths, a decrease of 10 deaths from 1999.

Leading causes: Heart attack is typically the leading cause of death and generally accounts for roughly half of all on-duty deaths. On-duty heart attack deaths are usually attributed to overexertion or stress. The stress-related deaths in 2000 also included two due to strokes, one to an aneurysm and one from a seizure. Last year, 11 of the 40 who suffered fatal heart attacks were known to have had prior heart problems, including heart attacks or bypass surgery.

Other major causes: Last year, 21 firefighters were killed in motor vehicle crashes, almost half of which occurred while the victims were responding to emergency calls. Thirteen firefighters died of smoke inhalation or burns at fires. Twelve died of traumatic injuries resulting from falls or from being struck by vehicles or other objects. In 2000, three firefighters were murdered while on duty.

Affiliation of firefighters who died: 57 were volunteer firefighters, 28 were career firefighters, six were employees of state forestry agencies, three were employees of federal forestry agencies, three were contractors to federal or state forestry agencies, two were members of a state inmate forestry crew, one was a civilian employee of the military, one was a military firefighter, and one was a member of an industrial fire department.

Type of duty when fatality occurred: 38% of the firefighter deaths occurred on the fireground, 24% occurred while responding to or returning from alarms, followed by other on-duty responsibilities (18%), training (14%), and non-fire emergencies (7%).

Fireground deaths: Of the 39 fireground deaths, 14 were due to heart attacks, eight to asphyxiation, seven to internal trauma, five to burns, two to electrocutions, two to pneumonia following traumatic injuries, and one to stroke.

Ages: A quarter of the career firefighters who died were between the ages of 41-45. More than a third of the volunteer firefighters who died were over the age of 60.

Arson, false alarms, assaults: Nine firefighters died in connection with arson fires. Six firefighters died as a result of false alarms last year. Also, three firefighters were fatally assaulted and another was accidentally shot during SWAT training.

"Cardiovascular illnesses continue to account for such a large proportion of firefighter deaths annually, and this needs to be addressed," said Rita Fahy, NFPA's manager of fire databases and systems and co-author of the report. "Increased attention to incident management and accountability systems is essential if we are to continue to reduce the death toll at fire incidents."