2006 saw 106 firefighters killed while on duty

WASHINGTON — An annual report released Tuesday by the United States Fire Administration says most 2006 firefighter fatalities were caused by heart attacks. According to the report, out of the total 106 deaths, 50 were attributed to heart attacks.

Other statistics reveal that more than 70 percent of the firefighters who died were volunteers. Fifteen deaths occurred as firefighters were returning from the scene of an incident.

Recently elected U.S. Fire Administrator Greg Cade said one of his primary goals is to reduce firefighter deaths by 50 percent over the course of the next 10 years.

"We are the first line of defense in communities, whatever the issue, but we can't do that if there are no firefighters," Cade said in an interview with FireRescue1 earlier this month. "To me, it's a critical issue to keep firefighters safe and healthy."
 
According to the USFA, the specific objective of the annual study is to identify all of the on-duty firefighter fatalities that occur in the United States and to analyze the circumstances surrounding each occurrence. It is also intended to help identify approaches that could reduce the number of deaths in future years.

2006 Annual Report – Overview of Findings

• 106 firefighters died while on duty in 2006
• 77 volunteer firefighters and 29 career firefighters died while on duty
• There were 6 firefighter fatality incidents where 2 or more firefighters were killed, claiming a total of 17 firefighters' lives
• 22 firefighters were killed during activities involving brush, grass, or wildland firefighting
• Activities related to emergency incidents resulted in the deaths of 61 firefighters
• 36 firefighters died while engaging in activities at the scene of a fire
• 15 firefighters died while responding to or returning from emergency incidents
• 9 firefighters died while they were engaged in training activities
• 20 firefighters died after the conclusion of their onduty activity
• Heart attacks were the most frequent cause of death for 2006, with 50 firefighter deaths
• 19 firefighters were killed as a result of vehicle crashes

Download the 2006 report