Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Summary Incident Report

Report dates:
Jan 1, 1990 to Mar 12, 2024
Number of on-duty firefighter fatalities:
3,836
Count of Hometown Heroes:
274
Data filters that contributed to this report
No filters were applied.

Firefighter classifications

47.4%
1790 Volunteer
44.6%
1684 Career
2.1%
78 Wildland Contract
1.8%
68 Wildland Full-Time
1.5%
56 Wildland Part-Time
1.3%
51 Paid-on-Call
1.1%
43 Part-Time (Paid)
0.21%
8 Industrial
Number of multiple firefighter fatality incidents: 150
Number of firefighter fatalities associated with wildland incidents: 202

Type of duty

41.2%
1558 On-Scene Fire
16.9%
641 Other On-Duty
14.3%
540 Responding
10.6%
400 On-Scene Non-Fire
8.1%
307 Training
7.1%
269 After
1.8%
70 Returning
Percent of fatalities related to emergency duty: 61.5%
Number of firefighter fatalities associated with suspicious/incendiary incidents: 439

Type of incident

34%
1000 Structure Fire
21.7%
637 Not Incident-Related
16.2%
475 Wildland
7.5%
221 Motor Vehicle Accident
7.1%
209 Other
5.3%
155 Emergency Medical Services
2.6%
77 Outside Fire
1.1%
33 False Alarm
0.95%
28 Vehicle Fire
0.92%
27 Unknown
0.88%
26 Technical Rescue
0.85%
25 Hazmat
0.71%
21 Weather/Disaster Response
0.2%
6 Rescue/Extrication

Cause of fatal injury

42.4%
1607 Stress/Overexertion
12.6%
479 Struck By
11.1%
422 Collapse
10%
378 Vehicle Collision - Includes Aircraft
9.4%
357 Caught or Trapped
5.7%
217 Exposure
3.4%
130 Other
3.4%
128 Fall
0.66%
25 Unknown
0.5%
19 Lost
0.24%
9 Assault
0.21%
8 Out of Air
0.18%
7 Suicide
0.16%
6 Contact With

Nature of fatal injury

40%
1527 Heart Attack
34.1%
1300 Trauma
7.4%
282 Asphyxiation
4.9%
186 Burns
3.3%
125 Other
2.8%
106 Covid-19
2.5%
97 Cerebrovascular Accident
1.4%
54 Crushed
0.89%
34 Drowning
0.89%
34 Electrocution
0.79%
30 Violence
0.63%
24 Unknown
0.31%
12 Heat Exhaustion
0.13%
5 Disease Exposure

Age of firefighter when the fatal injury was sustained

3.2%
121 (Under 21)
5.4%
208 (21 to 25)
6.3%
241 (26 to 30)
15.7%
602 (31 to 40)
22.1%
846 (41 to 50)
20.4%
784 (51 to 60)
15.1%
580 (61 and Over)
11.8%
454 (Unknown)
Percent of firefighter fatalities age 40 and under: 34.7%

Type of activity

17.8%
624 Other
15.9%
558 Advance Hose Lines/Fire Attack (includes Wildland)
14.7%
517 Search and Rescue
7.9%
276 Driving/Operating Vehicle/Apparatus
6%
209 Not On Scene
5.5%
193 In-Station Duties
4.9%
173 Driving/Riding Personal Vehicle
4%
141 Support
3.8%
133 Riding Vehicle/Apparatus
3.6%
125 EMS/Patient Care
2.5%
87 Incident Command
2.3%
82 Unknown
2.3%
80 Fitness Activity
2%
70 Scene Safety
1.7%
60 Water Supply
1.1%
39 Ventilation
1%
36 Pump Operations
1%
36 Responding
0.68%
24 Standby
0.46%
16 Setup
0.34%
12 Salvage and Overhaul
0.26%
9 Extrication
0.2%
7 Forcible Entry

Time of fatal injury

3.2%
123 01:00-02:59
2.2%
86 03:00-04:59
3.1%
119 05:00-06:59
5.6%
216 07:00-08:59
14.4%
553 09:00-10:59
5.9%
228 11:00-12:59
7%
268 13:00-14:59
7.7%
296 15:00-16:59
8.3%
319 17:00-18:59
6.8%
259 19:00-20:59
5.7%
218 21:00-22:59
3.2%
122 23:00-00:59
26.8%
1029 Unknown

Month of the year

15.9%
610 September
8.8%
339 August
8.4%
324 January
8.4%
324 March
8.2%
314 June
7.8%
301 April
7.8%
300 July
7.7%
294 February
7.6%
293 December
7.1%
271 November
6.5%
248 October
5.7%
218 May

Firefighter fatalities by state by location of fire service organization

0.03%
1 APO
1.8%
54 Alabama
0.2%
6 Alaska
0.07%
2 American Samoa
2%
59 Arizona
1.1%
32 Arkansas
6%
175 California
1.1%
32 Colorado
1.3%
37 Connecticut
0.41%
12 Delaware
0.14%
4 District of Columbia
2.3%
69 Florida
2%
60 Georgia
0.03%
1 Guam
0.2%
6 Hawaii
1%
30 Idaho
2.9%
85 Illinois
1.7%
50 Indiana
0.71%
21 Iowa
1.4%
40 Kansas
2.2%
64 Kentucky
1.1%
31 Louisiana
0.58%
17 Maine
1.8%
52 Maryland
1.4%
40 Massachusetts
2%
60 Michigan
0.61%
18 Minnesota
1.7%
50 Mississippi
2.2%
65 Missouri
1%
30 Montana
0.65%
19 Nebraska
0.51%
15 Nevada
0.58%
17 New Hampshire
3.4%
100 New Jersey
0.99%
29 New Mexico
18.4%
542 New York
4%
119 North Carolina
0.1%
3 North Dakota
0.03%
1 Northern Mariana Islands
3.3%
97 Ohio
1.2%
35 Oklahoma
2.1%
61 Oregon
6.5%
190 Pennsylvania
0.07%
2 Puerto Rico
0.34%
10 Rhode Island
1.9%
57 South Carolina
0.51%
15 South Dakota
1.7%
51 Tennessee
5.5%
162 Texas
0.51%
15 Utah
0.27%
8 Vermont
0.07%
2 Virgin Islands
1.7%
49 Virginia
1.3%
37 Washington
1.4%
41 West Virginia
1.5%
45 Wisconsin
0.51%
15 Wyoming