November 30, 2020
Emmitsburg, MD — Sixty-two firefighters died while on duty in 2019 – the fewest since the U.S. Fire Administration began tracking such data in 1977, according to an annual report recently released by the agency.
This total marks a 26% decrease from the 84 on-duty firefighter fatalities recorded in 2018. In 2016 and 2017, that figure was 92 and 88, respectively.
The report, released Nov. 6, classifies “on-duty” as “being involved in operations at the scene of an emergency, whether it is a fire or non-fire incident; responding to or returning from an incident; performing other officially assigned duties such as training, maintenance, public education, inspection, investigations, court testimony or fundraising; and being on call, under orders or on standby duty (except at an individual’s home or place of business).”
Thirty-seven of the firefighters died while responding to emergencies, while 33 of the deaths resulted from heart attacks.