By FireRescue1 Staff
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Fire Administration released their annual report detailing the number and types of official firefighter on-duty deaths for the previous year.
According to the USFA’s “Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2018,” 82 firefighters died in the line of duty last year, five fewer than the 87 who died in 2017.
Of the 82 LODDs, 33 were career deaths, which included five rural fire department deaths and 28 urban/suburban fire department deaths; 44 volunteer deaths, which included 27 rural department deaths and 17 urban/suburban deaths; and five wildland agency deaths, which included two full-time deaths and three part-time or seasonal deaths.
The deaths were evenly split as to the type of duty. Of the total deaths, 51% occurred during an emergency, and 49% occurred during a non-emergency, such as training, administrative activities, performing other functions not related to an emergency incident and post-incident fatalities.
Another major finding of the latest report was the cause of fatalities. Of the 82 overall deaths in 2018, 37 were due to stress or overexertion.
Read the full report below, or download it here.