NFPA Journal - July/August 2018 - 90

Other findings from 2017 firefighter fatalities
Last year, one firefighter was killed and two others were
injured as a result of one intentionally set fire that occurred
in a gym at a shopping center. The victim and his partner were pulling ceiling tiles to gain access to the fire in
the attic when they were overcome by rapidly developing
fire. Another firefighter was injured while searching for the
downed firefighters. From 2008 through 2017, 41 firefighters
(5.5 percent of all on-duty deaths) died in connection with
intentionally set fires, either at the fire or while responding
to or returning from the fire.
In 2017, no deaths resulted during a false call. Over the past
10 years, six firefighter deaths have resulted from false calls,
including malicious false alarms and alarm malfunctions.

Emergency personnel work the scene of a fire in
Texas in 2017. The blaze, which was intentionally set,
killed one firefighter and seriously injured two more.

90 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 1 8

The firefighters who died in 2017 ranged in age from 19 to
83, with a median age of 51.5 years. The lowest death rates
were for firefighters between the ages of 20 and 39, whose
death rate was less than half the all-age average. The rate
for firefighters aged 60 and over was two and one-half times
the average. Firefighters aged 50 and over accounted for
about half of all firefighter deaths over the five-year period,
although they represent only one-quarter of all career and
volunteer firefighters in the U.S.
The 21 deaths of career firefighters while on-duty in 2017 is
a slight increase over the 19 reported in 2016, which was the
lowest total ever reported in this study. In the earliest years
of this study, the annual average number of deaths of career
firefighters while on duty was 57. The 31 deaths of volunteer
firefighters is the second lowest total in all the years of this
study, and brings the average number of deaths in the most
recent 10-year period to fewer than 40 deaths per year, far
lower than the average of 67 deaths per year in the earliest
years of this study.

In summary
There were 60 on-duty firefighter deaths in 2017, the
lowest number we've reported since NFPA began producing
this study in 1977. Sudden cardiac death accounted for more
than half of the fatalities.
The number of firefighters who were fatally struck by vehicles was unusually high in 2017, while the number of crash

the victim was wearing appropriate reflective clothing. The
driver was cited for impaired and reckless driving.
Four of the eight firefighters who died in road crashes
were killed while responding to fires and one was killed
while returning from a fire. One was driving to a training
event, one was on official fire department business, and one
was operating at the scene of a wildland fire.
Of the firefighters who died in crashes, one was using a
seatbelt, three were not using seatbelts, and no details on
seatbelt use were reported for four victims. Three of the
victims were ejected from the vehicles and another was
partially ejected.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2018