FIREFIGHTER FATALITIES FALL IN 2014
Sudden cardiac events lead the causes of on-duty deaths.
There were 64 on-duty firefighter deaths in the U.S. in 2014, a significant decrease from the previous year.
In 2013, 97 on-duty firefighter deaths occurred. A total of 32 firefighters died in three separate incidents that year, including 19 firefighters who died in a wildfire in Arizona. In 2014, there were two double-fatality incidents, both involving structure fires.
Those are some of the preliminary findings in the “2014 U.S. Firefighter Fatality Study,” an upcoming report authored by Rita F. Fahy, Paul R. LeBlanc, and Joseph L. Molis of NFPA’s Fire Analysis and Research Division.
The complete report will be presented at the NFPA Conference & Expo in Chicago in June, and will appear in the July/August issue of NFPA Journal.
For more information on firefighter fatalities in the U.S., and for the latest statistics and research about fire, visit NFPA’s Fire Analysis and Research Division.
JESSE ROMAN is staff write for NFPA Journal.