How many firefighters died in the line of duty in the United States last year?
It depends on who's counting. The U.S. Fire Administration, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation ad the National Fire Protection Association each use different criteria.
In 2005, the NFPA reported 87 firefighter deaths; the NFFF, 99 and USFA, 115.
The criteria for USFA includes firefighters who died while on duty, become ill while on-duty and later die, and personnel who die within 24-hours of an emergency response or training regardless of whether the firefighter complained of the illness while on duty.
The NFPA counts the deaths of firefighters that occurred while they were on duty. They consider personnel who are career, volunteer, seasonal and full-time employees of state and federal agencies who have fire suppression duties. On-duty is considered being at the scene of an alarm, while responding to or returning from an alarm, while participating in other fire department duties such as training, maintenance, public education, fund-raising or being on call at a location other than at home.
Also, NFPA includes cases where illnesses or injuries eventually result in death. In those instances, the incident is listed in the year of the onset.
However, the NFPA said in a recent study that there is no mechanism for identifying fatalities that are due to illnesses that develop over long periods of time. "This creates an incomplete picture when comparing occupational illnesses to other factors as causes of firefighter deaths. This is recognized as a gap the size of which cannot be identified..."
The NFFF statistics include deaths of firefighters from injuries, heart attacks or illnesses directly related to an emergency or department-related activity such as training. Cases excluded involve suicides, alcohol or substance abuse or other gross abuses.
In October, the NFFF will be honoring 99 firefighters who died in 2005, and six others who perished in previous years.
The NFPA report shows a 16 percent decline in firefighter deaths in 2005 compared to 2004. However, researchers added while the data "is encouraging…it is premature to cite one year’s experience as a trend..."
The 87 deaths are the lowest since 1993, and the third lowest ever recorded by the NFPA.
Deaths on the fire ground were at the lowest level since the NFPA started keeping statistics in 1977, and wildland land fire-related fatalities were the lowest since 1997. The number of personnel killed by vehicles also was the lowest since 1996.
"...The 2005 findings are encouraging and give the fire service something to build on..." Rita F. Fahy, a researcher, told people attending a seminar last week at NFPA’s annual conference.
Other 2005 statistics from NFPA show:
- Almost all the 18 fire deaths in structures occurred in residential properties, and 11 died in blazes in one and two-family dwellings. Fires in two apartment buildings each claimed two lives. There were two deaths in vacant buildings, and one person was killed in a grain elevator.
- Five deaths occurred on wildland fires, one at at hay fire and one at at vehicle fire.
