Annual Report on Firefighter Fatalities in the United States
The objective of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) study “Firefighter Fatalities in the United States” is to identify and analyze all on-duty firefighter fatalities to increase understanding of their causes and how they can be prevented. The study is intended to help identify approaches that could reduce the number of deaths in future years.
The information on the 2024 firefighter fatalities is provisional pending the
release of USFA’s "Firefighter Fatalities in the United States (2024)" report.
On-duty firefighter deaths in 2024
33 career
firefighters
firefighters
32 volunteer
firefighters
firefighters
5 wildland
firefighters
firefighters
2 part-time
firefighters
firefighters
| 72 |
Firefighters died while on duty. |
| 26 | Firefighters died from activities related to operating at a fire scene. |
| 16 | Firefighters died from activities related to operating at a non-fire scene. |
| 8 | Firefighters died while responding to or returning from emergency incidents. |
| 12 | Firefighters died from from activities related to training. |
| 42 | Firefighters died from cardiovascular events. |
Firefighter fatality causes (2024)
| Cause | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| Stress or overexertion | 42 |
| Struck by object | 9 |
| Vehicle collisions | 8 |
| Caught or trapped | 4 |
| All others | 9 |
| Exposure | 2 |
| Unknown | 2 |
| Other | 2 |
| Collapse | 1 |
| Fall | 1 |
| Contact with | 1 |
On-duty firefighter fatalities (2015-2024)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter fatalities | 90 | 92 | 93 | 85 | 65 | 102 | 141 | 98 | 93 | 72 |
Firefighter fatalities by age (2024)
* Does not include one firefighter fatality for whom the age is
unknown.
| Under 21 | 1 |
|---|---|
| 21-25 | 1 |
| 26-30 | 5 |
| 31-35 | 3 |
| 36-40 | 5 |
| 41-45 | 10 |
| 46-50 | 7 |
| 51-55 | 10 |
| 56-60 | 9 |
| 61-65 | 4 |
| 66-70 | 6 |
| 71-75 | 7 |
| 75+ | 3 |
| Unknown | 1 |
1986-2024 annual firefighter fatality reports
Important: Please read the introduction for each
report to understand how determinations to include on-duty firefighters are made.
Plan a visit the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial
Please read this information first before scheduling your visit to the National Emergency Training Center.