USFA: 85 Firefighters Died on Duty in 2015

Heart attacks, overexertion and stress were the leading causes of deaths of on-duty firefighters last year.

Eighty five firefighters died while performing their duties in 2015, compared to 91 in 2014, according to statistics compiled by the USFA.

Of the 85, 14 died of heart-related issues or strokes within 24 hours of an emergency response.

The statistics are preliminary as each year state fire marshals are requested to verify the records.

Those who died include 42 volunteers, 30 career; 5 wildland part-time; 4 wildland full-time, 1 wildland contract, 1 paid on call and 1 paid on call part-time.

While autopsies are still pending on many of the firefighters’ deaths, it’s expected that heart attacks will once again be the leading cause, followed by stress and overexertion.

Pennsylvania lost seven firefighters in 2015, while California lost six. Mississippi, New York, North Carolina  and New Jersey each lost five.

One firefighter died at a fire determined to be an arson, and 52.3 percent of the deaths were directly related to emergency duties.

Other records showed the circumstances when the deaths occurred :

• 26 structure fires
• 23 non incident-related
• 8 Responding
• 7 EMS
• 7 Wildland
• 7 Other
• 6 Motor Vehicle Crashes
• 2 Vehicle Fires
• 1 Vehicle Extrication

December was the deadliest month as 10 firefighters perished, followed by August and May, 8.