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August 16, 2007
USFA Releases 2006 Report on Firefigher Fatalities
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has released the report
"Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2006." 106 firefighters died
while on duty in 2006.
For two decades, the National Fire Data Center (NFDC) 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 National Fallen Firefighter Foundation maintains the list of firefighters
who die in the line-of-duty and are honored during the annual National Fallen
Firefighters Memorial Weekend. The names of these firefighters are commemorated
on a plaque that is permanently installed at the National Fallen Firefighter
Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland. A list of the firefighters being honored by
the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation for 2006 (a total of 91) can be found
in Appendix D of the report.
The unique and specific objective of "Firefighter Fatalities in the United
States" is to identify all onduty firefighter fatalities that occurred in the
United States and its protectorates, and to present in summary form the
circumstances surrounding each occurrence. In addition to the 2006 overall
findings, this study includes information on the hazards to firefighters
presented by engineered lumber when it is exposed to fire conditions.
An overview of the 106 firefighters that died while on duty in 2006:
* 77 volunteer firefighters and 29 career firefighters died while
on duty.
* There were 6 firefighter fatality incidents where 2 or more
firefighters were killed, claiming a total of 17
firefighters' lives.
* 22 firefighters were killed during activities involving brush,
grass, or wildland firefighting.
* Activities related to emergency incidents resulted in the
deaths of 61 firefighters.
* 36 firefighters died while engaging in activities at the scene
of a fire.
* 15 firefighters died while responding to or returning from
emergency incidents.
* 9 firefighters died while they were engaged in training
activities.
* 20 firefighters died after the conclusion of their onduty
activity.
* Heart attacks were the most frequent cause of death for 2006,
with 50 firefighter deaths.
* 19 firefighters were killed as a result of vehicle crashes.
This report continues a series of annual studies by the USFA of onduty
firefighter fatalities in the United States. It is available at www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/ff_fat06.pdf
(PDF, 3.0 Mb).
The USFA is the single public agency source of information for all onduty
firefighter fatalities in the United States each year. This information is in
the public domain and may be accessed on the USFA Web site at
www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/.
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