Annual Report

Overview

For two decades, the National Fire Data Center has kept track of firefighter fatalities and conducted an analysis of the fatalities that occur each year. Through the collection of information on the causes of firefighter deaths, the USFA is able to focus on specific problems and direct efforts towards finding solutions to reduce the number of firefighter fatalities in the future. This information is also used to measure the effectiveness of current efforts directed toward firefighter health and safety.

The specific objective of the study Firefighter Fatalities in the United States is to identify all of the on-duty firefighter fatalities that occur in the United States and to analyze the circumstances surrounding each occurrence. The study is intended to help identify approaches that could reduce the number of deaths in future years.

2007 Annual Report – Overview of Findings

118 firefighters died while on duty in 2007.

68 volunteer firefighters and 50 career firefighters died while on duty.
There were 7 firefighter fatality incidents where 2 or more firefighters were killed, claiming a total of 21 firefighters' lives.
11 firefighters were killed during activities involving brush, grass, or wildland firefighting, the lowest in over a decade.
Activities related to emergency incidents resulted in the deaths of 76 firefighters.
38 firefighters died while engaging in activities at the scene of a fire.
26 firefighters died while responding to or returning from emergency incidents.
11 firefighters died while they were engaged in training activities.
15 firefighters died after the conclusion of their on-duty activity.
Heart attacks were the most frequent cause of death for 2007, with 52 firefighter deaths.
27 firefighters were killed as a result of vehicle crashes.

The 2007 report on firefighter fatalities in the United States may be downloaded below.