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Editor's Note: The editor of Texas
Fire World has not had an opportunity
to study this report in detail as of
press time but feels that the statement
of the title of this press release from
NFPA s may be slightly misleading as
the numbers of firefighters killed in
the "Line of Duty" have remained
nearly constant since the beginning
of recordkeeping of such statistics
Eighty-seven on-duty firefighters died
in the U.S. in 2005, a sharp decrease
from the 103 firefighter fatalities
that occurred in 2004 and the third
lowest death toll since the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) began
tracking this information in 1977, according
to a new report released today by NFPA.
"The sharp decrease in the total
number of on-duty deaths that occurred
in 2005 is encouraging, and obviously
the direction you want these numbers
to move," said Rita F. Fahy, Ph.D.,
manager of fire databases and systems
for NFPA. "One year does not make
a trend, but we hope it is a sign of
one developing."
According to the NFPA study, firefighters
are more likely to die from a sudden
cardiac event (usually a heart attack)
than any other cause.
For the third straight year, firefighters
were more likely to die responding to
or returning from alarms and not at
the scene of a fire. Of the 26 deaths
occurring in transit for 2005, 13 were
due to sudden cardiac death and 10 were
due to vehicle collisions or rollovers.
Although the second highest number
of deaths (25) occurred at the fire
ground - the area where the fire is
being fought - this was the lowest number
of deaths for this segment since 1977.
Sudden cardiac death was the major cause,
accounting for 11 of the 25 fatalities
in this category as well.
For the fourth consecutive year the
number of firefighter deaths during
training activities has been 11, making
up 13 percent of total deaths in 2005.
These deaths are particularly distressing,
since the purpose of training is to
protect firefighters. Sudden cardiac
death was the lead cause with seven
deaths: one firefighter drowned during
dive training, one suffered a stroke,
one died of heat stroke and one fell
off a roof. NFPA is conducting a special
analysis on the 100 training fatalities
that occurred between 1996 and 2005.
The study will be available at www.nfpa.org
on June 23, 2006.
A range of factors contributed to the
drop in fatalities in 2005, including
decreases in the number of deaths associated
with wildland fires and the number of
firefighters struck and killed by vehicles.
"To maintain the low level of on-duty
fatalities that occurred in 2005, it
is essential that efforts to reduce
the incidence of heart disease among
firefighters continue, especially by
reducing the risk factors for heart
disease," said Fahy.
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