NFPA Journal - November/December 2019 - 82

Selected 2018 U.S. Firefighter
Injury Incidents (continued)
severe burns during a firing
operation while operating at a
rapidly-escalating wildland fire.
Eight hours into the fire,
it was determined that the
weather conditions were favorable for crews to begin firing
operations by burning fuels
approximately a quarter mile
(.4 km) south of the fire. During
this operation, the wind shifted
direction, causing rapid fire
growth due to sustained northeasterly winds of 25 mph (40
kph) and blocking the firefighters' escape routes.
One of the inmate firefighters attempted to run through
the advancing flames into the
burned area, forgetting about
the presence of a barbed wire
fence. He was burned when
he became entangled in the
fence, but was able to extricate
himself, find an opening in the
fence, and escape into the
burned area.
The second inmate firefighter ran toward the
emergency vehicles and
attempted to jump over the
barbed wire fence. He was able
to clear the fence but his hand
tool caught on the fence, causing him to fall to the ground.
He landed face first on the
ground and the fast-moving
flames ignited his hair and
facial hair. It is unclear how the
third firefighter was burned,
other than that he was caught
in the burn over.
Another crew leader operating nearby saw the burn
over occur and tried to call
in a request for ambulances,
but had difficulty doing so
due to heavy radio traffic. He
was eventually able to get
through. He brought all three
injured firefighters together
and requested that several
advanced life-support units
respond to their location.
Approximately 45 minutes
after the fire event, all three
firefighters were transported
to the emergency room, where
they were treated for burn injuries to their faces and necks.
BULLDOZER ROLLOVER IN
WILDFIRE INCIDENT
A bulldozer operator suffered
minor injuries in a rollover
during firefighting activities.
A team leader and two bulldozers were assigned to build
a fire line approximately three
miles (4.8 km) from a wildland
fire. The proposed line was
reviewed by the leader who
felt it could be done safely. He
used glow sticks to identify
rock outcroppings, performed
a safety briefing, and communicated objectives with the two

bulldozer operators.
Bulldozer 1 was assigned
to the lead position with
Bulldozer 2 trailing behind
widening the fire line. The
team leader was approximately 100-150 feet (30-46
meters) in front of Bulldozer 1,
acting as a guide. Once they
encountered the first rock
outcropping, the operator of
Bulldozer 1 exited his vehicle and met with the leader
to review operations. After
navigating the obstacle and
resuming operations, they
continued building the fire line
for several hundred feet.
The leader maintained
communications with the
operators, informing them
of changing conditions. He
looked back up the ridge,
checking on the operation.
He watched Bulldozer 1 tilt
approximately 45 degrees,
then suddenly rotate 90
degrees as the front of the
machine lifted into the air. The
bulldozer slid and rolled over,
landing upright approximately
300 feet (91 meters) downhill.
The operator of Bulldozer
1 had four years of bulldozer
experience, with extensive
knowledge of the machinery
having used it at multiple
wildland fires. He was able
to extricate himself but suffered a head laceration and
contusions to his face. He
was transported to the emergency room by helicopter and
advanced life-support ambulance. He was treated and
released 16 hours after the
incident.
VEHICLE CRASH WHILE
RESPONDING TO FIRE
A 19-year-old firefighter with
two years on the fire department was injured in a crash
while responding to a reported
building fire.
The fire department was dispatched to a report of smoke
coming from a single-family
home, indicating a possible
fire. The firefighter responded
from his home in his personal
vehicle with his emergency
lights activated. He lost control of his car on a curve on a
two-lane road, approximately
1 mile (1.6 km) from his home.
The car then skidded onto
the shoulder and the passenger-side rear door struck a
telephone pole.
The driver, who was wearing
his seatbelt, suffered minor
injuries, including whiplash and some bruising. He
returned to full firefighting
activities three weeks after the
crash.

82 | NFPA JOURNAL * N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

fireground injuries per year per fire department,
which range from a high of 82.4 for departments
that protect communities of 500,000 or more, to a
low of 0.2 for departments that protect communities of fewer than 2,500.
One way to understand the risk that firefighters
face is to examine the number of fireground injuries that occur for every 100 fires they attend. This
takes into account relative fire experience and
allows more direct comparison between departments protecting communities of different sizes.
In 2018, the overall range of rates varied from a
high of 2.5 injuries per 100 fires for departments
that protected communities with populations of
500,000 or more to a low of 1.2 injuries per 100
fires for departments that protected communities
with populations between 100,000 and 249,999.
Larger fire departments generally had the highest rates of fireground injuries per firefighter;
departments protecting communities of 500,000
or more had 5.6 injuries per 100 firefighters. As
the size of the community decreases, the rate of
fireground injuries generally declines, to a low of
0.9 for departments protecting fewer than 2,500
people. That is a difference in risk of injury per
firefighter of more than 6 to 1 between communities of 500,000 or more people and communities
of fewer than 2,500.
One explanation for this difference is that,
although departments protecting communities
with populations of 500,000 have, on average,
more than 74 times as many firefighters as
departments protecting populations smaller than
2,500, larger departments attend 281 times as
many fires as the smaller departments and incur
considerably more fireground injuries. Different
policies for documenting minor injuries and different levels of fire engagement could also explain
some of this difference.

Conclusion
Since 1981, when firefighter injury data was first
collected for this report, the overall trend is a
decreasing number of firefighter injuries. The
most common place for these injuries is at the
fireground, but many firefighters are injured at
other emergencies.
As the statistics in this report and previous
reports attest, firefighting presents risks of personal injury to firefighters. Due to the nature
of the work performed and the hazards of the
incident scene environment, it is unlikely that all
firefighter injuries can be eliminated. A risk management system and the application of existing
technology, however, can offer options to reduce
present injury levels.
RICHARD CAMPBELL is data collection and research
manager at NFPA. JOSEPH L. MOLIS is an NFPA fire data
assistant and a battalion chief with the fire department in
Providence, Rhode Island.

NFPA Journal - November/December 2019

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