The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) report, “Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2016,” identifies and analyzes all on-duty U.S. firefighter fatalities that occurred last year 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.
Eighty-nine firefighters (56 volunteer, 23 career and 10 wildland agency) died while on duty in 2016.
- Activities related to emergency incidents resulted in the deaths of 36 firefighters.
- Seventeen firefighters died while engaging in activities at the scene of a fire.
- Ten firefighters died while responding to emergency incidents.
- Nineteen firefighters died as the result of vehicle crashes.
- Heart attacks were the most frequent nature of fatal injury with 40 firefighter deaths.
- Nine firefighters died while they were engaged in training activities.
The 2016 report, and past reports from 1986 to 2015, is available for download from the USFA’s website.
For 40 years, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has tracked the number of firefighter fatalities and conducted an annual analysis.
Through the collection of information on the causes of firefighter deaths, the USFA is able to focus on specific problems and direct efforts toward finding solutions to reduce the number of firefighter fatalities in the future.
This information is also used to measure the effectiveness of current programs directed toward firefighter health and safety.
Several programs have been funded by the USFA in response to this annual report.
For example, the USFA has sponsored significant work in the areas of general emergency vehicle operations safety, fire department tanker/tender operations safety, firefighter incident scene rehabilitation, and roadside incident safety.
The data developed for this report are also widely used in other firefighter fatality prevention efforts.
In addition to the analysis, the USFA, working in partnership with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), develops a list of all on-duty firefighter fatalities and associated documentation each year.
If certain criteria are met, the fallen firefighter’s 2 Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2016 next of kin, as well as members of the individual’s fire department, are invited to the annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service.
The service is held at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland, during Fire Prevention Week in October of each year.
(Learn More. A look at the people and the events from Memorial Weekend 2017 at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. Videography and editing by Greg Guise, courtesy of the NFFF and YouTube. Posted on Oct 9, 2017)
The 36th Annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend was held on Oct. 7 and 8, 2017.
Other resources and information regarding firefighter fatalities, including current fatality notices, the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial database, and links to the Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) program, can be found at https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighterfatalities/.
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