During the first six months of 2005 62 firefighters have died on duty according to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). 2005 may be a deadlier year for the fire service than 2004. By June 30, 2004 57 firefighters died on duty and the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Database had 108 fatalities in 2004.
New York had the most fatalities with 12, Texas followed with eight deaths. California, Florida and New Jersey had four deaths each. The number of deaths was evenly split between career and volunteer firefighters. Among the firefighters who died two were women.
A Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study by the USFA summarized that firefighter fatalities per 100,000 incidents have increased since 1997. 1999 had the most fatalities per 100,000 incidents since 1978.
The USFA study also found that during the 1990 to 2000 decade the leading factor in firefighters
