Our State Fire Marshal, jerry Rosendahl recently sent out some interesting statistics from the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). the numbers give a little insight as to what the American Fire Service is up to these days and points out some areas that need to be addressed, namely firefighter health and safety. Some highlights from the report are as follows:
The United States Fire Service
1,140,900 firefighters from 30,635 local fire departments protected the United States in 2006.
- 28% (316,950) are career firefighters.
- 72% (823,950) are volunteer firefighters.
The fire service does more than fight fires
- Medical aid responses have tripled since 1980.
- Only 7% of fire department calls in 2006 were due to actual fires.
Firefighter Fatalities
89 firefighters were fatally injured in 2006.
· Sudden cardiac death caused 34 of the fatalities.
· 19 firefighters died in vehicle crashes, while 3 died after being struck by vehicles and one firefighter fell from a tanker.
· 38 firefighters died on the fireground.
Firefighter Injuries
83,400 firefighters were injured in 2006.
- Strain, sprain, and muscular pain were the leading type of injury.
53% (44,210) of the injuries occurred on the fireground.
Below are some graphs that illustrate more details of the fire service.





Despite the fact that the rate of fires is decreasing on a national basis, the fire service continues to kill and injure a fairly consistent number of firefighters. This trend of death and injury is preventable to a large degree. An emphasis on firefighter health and a better metric for taking risks on the fireground are two key measures to be taken in the reduction of firefighter deaths..
First of all we must address the heart attacks that are so common in this business. Providing more access to health and wellness programs is a giant first step to help reduce the single largest category of firefighter deaths.
Secondly, far too many firefighters are killed making entry in known un-occupied structures to fight a fire. Trading property saved for firefighters lives is a bad trade-off. It is up to the American fire service to get smarter about the risks that are taken. Risking lives to save lives is part of the job, risking lives to save property is not.
The numbers are clear, now it is up to the fire service as a profession to address the cures. It will be interesting to see what the next 10 or 20 years worth of data shows, did we get better or did the status quo prevail?