More than 81,000 fire-related firefighter injuries occurred annually in the United States between 2006 and 2008, according to a new report.
The report, compiled by the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS), reveals 39,715 of these injuries occurred on the fireground, while 4,880 happened while responding/returning from an incident.
Other findings include:
- The majority of fire-related firefighter injuries (87 percent) occured in structure fires. In addition, on average, structure fires had more injuries per fire than nonstructure fires.
- Thirty-eight percent of all fire-related firefighter injuries resulted in lost work time.
- Firefighter injury fires were more prevalent in July (10 percent) and peaked between the hours of 2 and 5 p.m.
- Overexertion/strain was the cause of 25 percent of fire-related firefighter injuries reported to NFIRS.
Writing in the TheSecretList, Chief Billy Goldfeder said the timing of the report is excellent given the fact so many fire departments are having to fight non-fire “battles” in the current economic climate of staffing cuts.
“Take note of the focus on structural fires, whereas structure fires have more injuries per fire than nonstructure fires. And the fact that 87 percent of all FF injuries occur while operating at structural fires,” he said.
“So, as some cities look at (or make) cuts, not only are they increasing the risk to civilians, but here is ‘clear data’ that shows the risk to firefighters.
“Since it takes a very calculable and measurable amount of FFs to operate appropriately at a structural fire, based upon conditions, it is also clear that when we have longer (or delayed) responses with less than required firefighters, the risk to the firefighters and civilians go up. In some cases, way up.”
Three times as many firefighter injuries occurred in residential structures than in nonresidential structures, according to the data.
Overall, firefighter injuries in residential structures accounted for 65 percent of firefighter injuries, the majority of which happen in residential building fires.
Outside, vehicle, and other fires combined represented 13 percent of firefighter injuries over the period studied.
Examining the cause and nature of fire-related firefighter injuries over the period, 25 percent of all firefighter injuries were caused by overexertion/strain.
The next four leading causes combined accounted for approximately 58 percent of firefighter injuries: exposure to hazard (20 percent), contact with object (firefighter moved into/onto) (16 per-cent), slip/trip (12 percent), and fall (10 percent).
The leading nature of injury is strain, closely associated with overexertion/strain as the cause of the injury.
PPE failure in fire-related firefighter injuries is also highlighted in the report, with the data showing very few of the firefighter injuries reported to NFIRS indicate problems with firefighter protective gear — only 9 percent indicate protective gear failures as a factor in the injury.
“Modern equipment and equipment standards, combined with current equipment replacement cycles, may preclude protective equipment failures,” the report said.
“Firefighter gloves with wristlets, positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and hoods account for 32 percent of equipment problems.”