Firefighter deaths by type of duty

 

Year

Total

Firefighting,
Fireground

Responding
Returning

On Scene at
Non-Fire Calls

Training

Other
On-Duty

1977

157

78 (49.7%)

41 (26.1%)

14 (8.9%)

10 (6.4%)

14 (8.9%)

1978

174

84 (48.3%)

48 (27.6%)

20 (11.5%)

5 (2.9%)

17 (9.8%)

1979

126

83 (65.9%)

21 (16.7%)

9 (7.1%)

3 (2.4%)

10 (7.9%)

1980

138

74 (53.6%)

37 (26.8%)

9 (6.5%)

4 (2.9%)

14 (10.1%)

1981

136

75 (55.1%)

35 (25.7%)

8 (5.9%)

7 (5.1%)

11 (8.1%)

1982

128

67 (52.3%)

40 (31.3%)

8 (6.3%)

6 (4.7%)

7 (5.5%)

1983

113

60 (53.1%)

26 (23.0%)

12 (10.6%)

4 (3.5%)

11 (9.7%)

1984

119

59 (49.6%)

37 (31.1%)

8 (6.7%)

3 (2.5%)

12 (10.1%)

1985

128

63 (49.2%)

33 (25.8%)

9 (7.0%)

6 (4.7%)

17 (13.3%)

1986

119

48 (40.3%)

42 (35.3%)

6 (5.0%)

6 (5.0%)

17 (14.3%)

1987

132

54 (40.9%)

37 (28.0%)

12 (9.1%)

17 (12.9%)

12 (9.1%)

1988

136

65 (47.8%)

39 (28.7%)

10 (7.4%)

11 (8.1%)

11 (8.1%)

1989

118

59 (50.0%)

29 (24.6%)

6 (5.1%)

12 (10.2%)

12 (10.2%)

1990

108

48 (44.4%)

24 (22.2%)

17 (15.7%)

8 (7.4%)

11 (10.2%)

1991

108

53 (49.1%)

26 (24.1%)

8 (7.4%)

14 (13.0%)

7 (6.5%)

1992

75

38 (50.7%)

21 (28.0%)

4 (5.3%)

5 (8.0%)

7 (8.0%)

1993

79

34 (43.0%)

21 (26.6%)

8 (10.1%)

7 (8.9%)

9 (11.4%)

1994

106

62 (58.5%)

19 (17.9%)

7 (6.6%)

7 (6.6%)

11 (10.4%)

1995

98

42 (42.9%)

32 (32.7%)

12 (12.2%)

4 (4.1%)

8 (8.2%)

1996

96

32 (33.3%)

32 (33.3%)

8 (8.3%)

8 (8.3%)

16 (16.7%)

1997

99

41 (41.4%)

27 (27.3%)

12 (12.1%)

7 (7.1%)

12 (12.1%)

1998

91

40 (44.0%)

17 (18.7%)

15 (16.5%)

11 (12.1%)

8 (8.8%)

1999

113

57 (50.4%)

32 (28.3%)

10 (8.8%)

4 (3.5%)

10 (8.8%)

2000

104

39 (37.5%)

24 (23.1%)

9 (8.7%)

14 (13.5%)

18 (17.3%)

2001*

443

38* (36.9%)

26 (25.2%)

2 (1.9%)

12 (11.7%)

25 (24.3%)

2002

98

46 (46.9%)

19 (19.4%)

10 (12.2%)

11 (11.2%)

12 (12.2%)

2003

106

29 (27.4%)

37 (34.9%)

9 (8.5%)

12 (11.3%)

19 (17.9%)

2004

104

30 (28.8%)

36 (34.6%)

9 (8.7%)

12 (11.5%)

17 (16.3%)

2005

87

25 (28.7%)

26 (29.9%)

4 (4.6%)

11 (12.6%)

21 (24.1%)

2006

90

37 (41.1%)

19 (21.1%)

6 (6.7%)

8 (8.9%)

20 (22.2%)

2007

106

37 (34.9%)

31 (29.2%)

8 (7.5%)

13 (12.3%)

17 (16.0%)

2008

105

29 (27.6%)

40 (38.1%)

11 (10.5%)

7 (6.7%)

18 (17.1%)

2009

82

27 (32.9%)

20 (24.4%)

10 (12.2%)

11 (13.4%)

14 (17.1%)

2010

73

22 (30.1%)

18 (24.7%)

5 (6.8%)

11 (15.1%)

17 (23.3%)

2011

61

30(49.2%)

10 (16.4%)

5 (8.2%)

6 (9.8%)

10 (16.4%)

2012

64

21(33.0%)

19 (30.0%)

4 (6.0%)

8 (13.0%)

12 (19.0%)

2013 97 56 (57.7%) 17 (17.5%) 7 (7.2%) 7 (7.2%) 10 (10.3%)
2014
64 22 (34.4%) 11 (17.2%) 9 (14.1%) 8 (12.5%) 14 (21.9%)
2015 68 24 (35.3%) 11 (16.2%) 10 (14.7%) 9 (13.2%) 14 (20.6%)

These figures are based on NFPA's annual tracking of all firefighter deaths.

Some figures have been updated since the publication of the reports for those years.

*Percentage breakdowns do not include the 340 fireground deaths at the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001.

Source: Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, Rita F. Fahy, Paul R. LeBlanc, Joseph L. Molis, NFPA, June 2016 and previous reports in the series.

Updated 6/16