As we look back on 2023, it’s easy to see how first responder service often extends far beyond local communities, with many responses making national headlines.
Here we highlight some of the milestone moments, major incidents and unique responses that defined the year ... thus far.
Damar Hamlin cardiac arrest
- Rapid Response: Paramedics get ROSC as world watches NFL player’s on-field treatment
- Hamlin’s ‘on-duty’ emergency highlights the importance of support systems
- ‘Team Hamlin’: NFL awards show honors first responders
An ambulance leaves the field with Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin during the first half of an NFL football game between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, in Cincinnati.
Joshua A. Bickel/AP
Buffalo Bills players react as Damar Hamlin is examined during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, in Cincinnati.
Jeff Dean/AP
Fans show their support for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) with signs and costumes during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots.
Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP
GAMETIME!!! @BuffaloBills 💙 pic.twitter.com/PQYClonUHb
— 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧 (@HamlinIsland) January 8, 2023
Tesla strikes fire engine
In this photo released by Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, firefighters work the scene of a fatal accident involving a Tesla and Contra Costa County fire truck early Saturday morning, Feb. 18, 2023, in Contra Costa, Calif. Fire officials said the Tesla driver was killed and a passenger was critically injured Saturday when the car plowed into the fire truck parked on a Northern California freeway to shield a crew clearing another accident.
AP
USAR teams deploy to Turkey
‘High Roller’ training
Indiana industrial fire
Fallen firefighters honored during Memorial Weekend
- Photos: Fire service leaders, families gather for National Fallen Firefighters Candlelight Service
- Memorial Weekend ICS: Coordinating the inspiring annual event
Ukraine-Russia war rages on
- Mass. communities send fire apparatus, gear, equipment to Ukraine
- Ill. FD donates fire engine to Ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry, a firefighter tries to put out fire caused by fragments of a Russian rocket after it was shot down by air defense system during the night Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry via AP
N.C. construction site blaze
- Rapid Response: Charlotte leaders detail ‘unprecedented’ construction site fire, secondary blaze response
- Watch: N.C. firefighters rescue crane operator trapped above massive 5-alarm fire
- Video: 4 lessons from major N.C. modern wood construction fire
- ‘Murph, it’s time to climb': N.C. captain describes rescue of crane operator
Firefighter receives presidential Medal of Valor
Canadian wildfires blanket Northeast in smoke
- ‘I can taste the air': Canadian wildfire smoke causes health warnings, pauses flights in U.S.
- 4 firefighters killed in crash after battling Canadian wildfire
A man runs in front of the sun rising over the lower Manhattan skyline in Jersey City, N.J., Thursday, June 8, 2023. Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside.
Seth Wenig/AP
eBike fires ignite in NYC
- 4 dead, 2 critical after fire in NYC e-bike shop
- FDNY: e-bike shop cited for violating lithium-ion battery rules before fatal fire
- FDNY on the lookout for fake UL stickers on e-bike batteries, chargers
Firefighters and investigators go through the aftermath of a fire which authorities say started at an e-bike shop and spread to upper-floor apartments, June 20, 2023, in New York. New York City is receiving $25 million in emergency funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish scores of new e-bike charging stations across the city.
Bebeto Matthews/AP
Cargo ship fire kills 2 firefighters
- Video: Deadly N.J. cargo ship fire expected to burn for days
- Coast Guard cites lack of training in fatal N.J. cargo ship fire
- ‘A freight train for wrecks': Ship fire that claimed N.J. FFs points to larger dangers
Wildfires devastate Maui communities
- Maui firestorm: Firefighters, residents faced myriad challenges
- ‘Find some way to get to the ocean': 911 calls from Maui wildfire released
- UL’s FSRI investigators begin review of the response to the deadly Lahaina wildfire
At least 98 people were killed and over 2,000 structures destroyed in the Lahaina wildfire.
CDC
USFA
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years.
Rick Bowmer/AP
Remembering 9/11
- ‘It was hard to push forward, but we did’: FDNY chief reflects on 9/11 response and recovery
- ‘Dear Brothers’: A message to the fire service brotherhood and sisterhood
- September 11, 2001: Never Forget
USFA Summit on Fire Prevention and Control
Firefighters on the front lines during Israel-Hamas conflict
- Israel Fire and Rescue Services personnel killed in Hamas terrorist attacks
- Fla. firefighters, paramedics prepare to go to Israel
Fire, EMS personnel respond to mass shooting in Maine
Massive Los Angeles freeway fire snarls commutes
In this photo provided by the California Department of Transportation, a Los Angeles firefighter uses a robotic hose to douse a fire under Interstate 10 that severely damaged the overpass in an industrial zone near downtown Los Angeles, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Authorities say firefighters have mostly extinguished a large blaze that burned trailers, cars and other things in storage lots beneath a major highway near downtown Los Angeles, forcing the temporary closure of the roadway.
Caltrans District 7 via AP
