From the NFPA Journal®, July/August 2012

By Rita F. Fahy, ph.d., Paul R. LeBlanc, and Joseph L. Molis

In 2011, 61 firefighters died while on duty in the United States.  This is the third consecutive year that the number of deaths has dropped sharply and is, for the second year in a row, the lowest total since NFPA began conducting this annual study in 1977. In the previous three years, the totals were 73, 82, and 105 deaths, respectively. The average number of deaths annually over the past 10 years is 91.

Of the 61 firefighters who died while on duty in 2011, 35 were volunteer firefighters, 21 were career firefighters, three were employees of state land management agencies, and two were employees of federal land management agencies.

This study includes only on-duty firefighter fatalities that occurred in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, a firefighter in Guam died in 2011 while on station duty.

Read the report here.