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.
On-duty firefighter deaths in 2022
38 career
firefighters
firefighters
49 volunteer
firefighters
firefighters
7 wildland
firefighters
firefighters
| 94 | Firefighters died while on duty. 6 firefighters died from COVID-19. |
| 62 | Firefighters died from activities related to an emergency incident. |
| 17 | Firefighters died from activities at a non-fire scene. |
| 35 | Firefighters died from activities at a fire scene. |
| 33 | Firefighters died from heart attacks. |
| 14 | Firefighters died while responding to or returning from emergency incidents. |
| 9 | Firefighters died while participating in training activities. |
Firefighter fatality causes (2022)
| Cause | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| Stress or overexertion | 37 |
| Vehicle collisions | 17 |
| Struck by object | 10 |
| Caught or trapped | 8 |
| All others | 22 |
| Unknown | 7 |
| Collapse | 6 |
| Exposure (COVID-19) | 6 |
| Fall | 2 |
| Other | 1 |
On-duty firefighter fatalities (2013-2022)
Does not include COVID-19 fatalities for purposes of trend analysis| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter fatalities | 110 | 97 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 85 | 65 | 66 | 78 | 88 |
Firefighter fatalities by age (2022)
| < 21 | 2 |
|---|---|
| 21-25 | 6 |
| 26-30 | 5 |
| 31-35 | 11 |
| 36-40 | 9 |
| 41-45 | 4 |
| 46-50 | 14 |
| 51-55 | 12 |
| 56-60 | 14 |
| 61-65 | 7 |
| 66-70 | 6 |
| 71-75 | 1 |
| > 75 | 3 |
1986-2022 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.