NFPA Journal - July/August 2018 - 88

Selected 2017 U.S.
Firefighter Fatality Incidents
INMATE WILDLAND
FIREFIGHTER KILLED BY
FALLING TREE
A crew of inmate firefighters
was tasked with clearing brush
and tree limbs along a road in a
remote mountainous region with
limited access. On the first day
at the work site, a safety briefing
was held and work began on
the project. On the third day,
the crew was picking up piles of
limbs and brush that had been
cleared and placed along the
side of the roadway, and placing
the piles of debris in a chipper.
While the crew was working
near the fully throttled chipper,
their supervisor heard two loud
pops. He saw a large tree falling
toward the crew.
The supervisor immediately
yelled and warned the crew
that a tree was falling from
the steep hillside. None of the

the number of firefighter suicides in
2017, according to
data collected by the
Firefighter Behavioral
Health Alliance.
Additionally, 17 EMTs
and paramedics died
by suicide in 2017.
crew members reacted and
branches from the tree struck
and injured one of the inmates.
The top 18 feet (5.5 meters) of
the 146-foot-tall (44.5-meter)
tree struck a 26-year-old inmate
firefighter in the head, neck,
and chest while he was working
near the chipper.
Nearby firefighters that witnessed the tree fall grabbed
a trauma bag and began life
saving measures, including
cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The supervisor attempted to
call for help but due to the
remote location his messages
were not transmitted. He ran
approximately 400 yards (122
meters) downhill and down the
road to use his radio to request
a medical response.
Once the advanced life support unit arrived, paramedics
pronounced the victim dead
approximately an hour after he
had been struck.
Several lessons learned were
identified by the reporting
organization, including that the

tree was identified as a hazard
but was estimated to be outside
the work area. Another issue
was that the crew could not
hear the supervisor's warning
due to the noise of the chipper.
CARDIAC ARREST AT
HOUSE FIRE
A local fire department
responded to a reported fire
in a single-family home with a
ground floor area of approx-

the number of deaths
at the scene of fires, the
second-lowest number
of fire ground deaths
observed since the
study began in 1977
imately 660 square feet (61
square meters). Upon arrival,
firefighters encountered a bedroom fire on the second story of
the wood-frame home.
First-arriving companies
began an aggressive interior
attack, stretching a hose line up
the interior stairs and knocking
down the flames. Fire investigators determined that an
occupant discarded cigarette
butts into a trash barrel and
then took a shower. Flames
grew out of the trash can and
the fire quickly extended to
the room and contents. Smoke
alarms were located on the first
floor but did not operate. The
occupant got out of the shower,
saw the smoke, exited the
building, and dialed 911.
A 21-year veteran firefighter
wearing a full protective
ensemble helped companies
advance the hose line up the
front stairs. Once the hoseline
was in place, he proceeded to
perform overhaul of the second-story bedroom. Crews in
the area assisting with overhaul
found him on the floor unconscious in cardiac arrest. They
called a mayday and removed
him from the building.
The 54-year-old victim did
not have a known medical history. After an autopsy, the fire
department reported that his
cardiac arrest was caused by
overexertion.
STRUCK AND KILLED
BY VEHICLE
A fire department responded
to a report of a transformer

88 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 1 8

firefighters were killed in motor vehicle crashes,
three suffered fatal cardiac events, and another
suffered a stroke. All crashes and sudden cardiac
deaths are discussed in more detail later in this
report. The number of deaths that occurred while
responding to or returning from calls has averaged 17 per year over the past 10 years and 13
per year over the past five years. During the first
10 years that NFPA conducted this study, 1977
through 1986, the average number of deaths per
year while responding to or returning from alarms
was 36. There has been a marked reduction in
both crash deaths and cardiac-related deaths
while responding to or returning from alarms over
the past 40 years.
The remaining 13 firefighters died while
involved in a variety of normal station or administrative activities. Eleven of these fatalities were
due to sudden cardiac death and one to a stroke.
One firefighter was killed in a crash while on fire
department business.

Cause and nature of fatal injury or illness
Overexertion, stress, and medical issues accounted
for more than half of the firefighter deaths in
2017. Of the 32 deaths in this category, 29 were
classified as sudden cardiac deaths (usually heart
attacks), two were due to strokes, and one was due
to complications from a recent medical procedure
that developed while the victim was at work.
Ten firefighters were struck by vehicles and
eight others were killed in crashes. These vehicle-related deaths are discussed in more detail
below.
Five firefighters were struck and killed by
objects: three by trees that fell at separate wildland fires, one by a hose he had just wrapped
around a fire hydrant, and one by a chainsaw
when he lost his balance while cutting a fire line
on a wildland fire.
Three firefighters were killed by rapid fire progress: two while operating on separate wildland
fires and one at a structure fire.
Two firefighters fell from ladders: one while
climbing an aerial ladder during a high-rise fire
training exercise and another from the basket of
an aerial while fighting a structure fire.

Sudden cardiac deaths
The 29 sudden cardiac deaths in 2017 with onset
while the victim was on duty is the fourth time
in the last six years that the toll has been below
30, but still accounts for almost half of the deaths
while on-duty. These are cases in which the onset
of symptoms occurred while the victim was on
duty and death occurred immediately or shortly
thereafter.
Cardiac-related events have accounted for 43
percent of the on-duty firefighter deaths over
the past 10 years. Though it usually accounts for

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2018