Firefighter Fatalities in the United States 2007
Rita F. Fahy, Paul R. LeBlanc and Joseph L. Molis, July 2008. 33 pages.
Overall statistics on line-of-duty firefighter fatalities in 2006, including non-incident-related deaths. Includes patterns, trends, career vs. volunteer comparisons, and brief narratives on selected incidents.

In 2007, a total of 102 on-duty firefighter deaths occurred in the U.S. This is a sharp increase over the 89 firefighter fatalities that occurred in 2006, but returns to the long-term trend of close to 100 on-duty deaths annually. The largest share of deaths (36 deaths) occurred on the fire ground.  Stress, exertion, and other medical-related issues, which usually result in heart attacks or other sudden cardiac events, continued to be the leading cause of fatal injury. Of the 40 stress-related fatalities in 2007, 38 were classified as sudden cardiac deaths.
All visitors: Download this report for free. (PDF, 151 KB)

Fire Department Calls And False Alarms
9 pages.
Includes statistics from 2006 on fire department calls by type and an in-depth report on false alarm activity.
All visitors: Download this report for free. (PDF, 42 KB)

Firefighter Injuries in the United States
Michael J. Karter, Jr. & Joseph L. Molis, November 2007
Cost: $10.00 (free to the fire service). 28 pages. Order # FFI06.
The report includes statistics on line-of-duty firefighter injuries in 2006 from NFPA’s survey of fire departments – including non-incident-related injuries, trends, and brief narratives on selected incidents.

Abstract: NFPA estimates that 83,400 firefighter injuries occurred in the line of duty in 2006, an increase of 4.1% from the year before. Over half (53.0%) of the all firefighter injuries occurred during fireground operations. An estimated 13,690 occurring during other on duty activities, while 13,090 occurred at non-fire emergency incidents.  The leading type of injury received during fireground operations was strain, sprain or muscular pain (46.7%), followed by wound, cut , bleeding, bruise (17.3%). Regionally, the Northeast had the highest fireground injury rate, more than twice the rate for the rest of the country.
NFPA members:  Download this report for free. (PDF, 77 KB)

U.S. Fire Department Profile
Michael J. Karter, November 2007
Cost: $25.00 (free to the fire service). 29 pages. Order # USS07.
This report includes statistics through 2006 on the numbers and characteristics of U.S. of fire departments and firefighters. It also includes information on the number of fire stations, pumpers and ladders nationwide, rates of usage of such equipment by community size, and total national direct expenditures on local fire protection.

NFPA estimates that there were approximately 1,140,900 firefighters in the U.S. in 2006. Of the total number of firefighters 316,950 or 28% were career firefighters and 823,950 (72%) were volunteer firefighters.  Most of the career firefighters (76%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people.  Most of the volunteer firefighters (95%) are in departments that protect fewer than 2,500 people. There are an estimated 30,635 fire departments in the U.S. Of these, 2,321 departments are all career, 1,731 mostly career, 5,134 are mostly volunteer and 21,449 are all volunteer.  In the U.S., 13,370 or 44% of departments provide EMS service, 4,430 departments or 14% provide EMS service and advance life support, while 12,835 departments or 42% provide no EMS support.
NFPA members:  Download this report for free. (PDF, 109 KB)
All visitors: Download a printable fact sheet on the U.S. fire department. (PDF, 61 KB)

Patterns of Firefighter Fireground Injuries
Michael J. Karter, February 2007
Cost: $10.00 (free to the fire service). 29 pages. Order # USS02.
Includes 2001-2004 annual average estimates of injuries by such factors as type of injury, type of activity at time of injury, cause of injury by level of severity, occupancy where injury occurred, time of day and ages of injured firefighters.

Abstract: For the 2001 -04 period, there was an estimated annual average of 38,545 firefighter fireground injuries in the U.S. Of these, an average of 28,790 were minor, and 9,755 were moderate or severe. The leading types of minor injuries were:  strain or sprain accounting for an annual average of 6,425 injuries or 22.3%; thermal burn, accounting for 3,925 injuries (13.6%); pain only, accounting for 2,970 injuries (10.3%); cut or laceration, accounting for 2,745 injuries (9.5%). The leading types of moderate and severe injuries were: strains or sprain accounting for an annual average of 3,065 injuries a year, or 31.4%; thermal burn, accounting for 925 injuries (9.5%); pain only, accounting for 785 injuries (8.1%); and exhaustion or fatigue accounting for 595 injuries, or 6.1%. Activities related to extinguishing a fire accounted for most of the minor injuries (15,960 or 55.4%), and for most of the moderate and severe injuries (5,345 or 54.8%). The leading causes of minor injuries were contact with or being struck by something (6,080, or 21.7%), while for moderate and severe injuries the leading cause of injuries were falling, tripping, or slipping (2,525 or 25.9%).
NFPA members: Download this report for free.  (PDF, 82 KB)
All visitors: Download the executive summary and table of contents for free. (PDF, 100 KB)

U.S. Firefighter Deaths Related to Training, 1996-2005
Rita F. Fahy, June 2006. 16 pages.
Training is a vital part of fire department operations, but it too often results in deaths and injuries. Between 1996 and 2005, 100 firefighters in the U.S. died while engaged in training-related activities (10 percent of all on-duty firefighter deaths). The deaths occurred during a broad range of activities, including apparatus and equipment drills; physical fitness; live fire training; underwater/dive training; and while attending classes or seminars. 
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U.S. Fire Service Fatalities in Structures
Rita F. Fahy, July 2002. 11 pages.
Firefighters today are dying inside structures at a rate that parallels their on-duty death rate during the 1970s. These findings are based on an analysis of on-duty firefighter deaths from 1977-2000.
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Selected Special Analyses of U.S. Firefighter Fatalities
Cost: $10.00 (free to the fire service) 34 pages. Order # PKG28.
A collection of special analyses of patterns of U.S.  firefighter fatalities. Topics covered include career and volunteer comparison; tanker accidents; training; operating inside structures; incendiary and suspicious fires; responding to or returning from alarms; PASS use; being struck by vehicles; and structural collapses.
NFPA members: Download this report for free. (PDF, 113 KB)

Fire Departments in Canada, 2004-2006
Michael J. Karter, Jr. and Gary P. Stein, January 2008
Cost: $25.00 (free to the fire service). 15 pages. Order #USS35.
The NFPA has been collecting data on fire departments in Canada for several years. This report includes results on career and volunteer fire firefighters per 1,000 people protected, department type, stations and apparatus rates per 1,000 people, and whether EMS is provided. Most of the results are broken down by size of community protected.
NFPA members: Download this report for free. (PDF, 51 KB)

Four Years Later – A Second Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service
Department of Homeland Security, USFA, and NFPA, October 2006. 159 pages.
Updated assessment of needs of U.S. fire service in such areas as training, certification, personnel, apparatus, equipment, and fire prevention, with particular attention to homeland security type incidents.
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Matching Assistance to Firefighters Grants to the Reported Needs of the U.S. Fire Service
Department of Homeland Security, USFA, and NFPA, October 2006. 41 pages.
Analysis of whether grants requested and received have addressed reported needs, by type of need, and whether popular types of grants have resulted in significant change in the overall national level of need.
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State-by-State Findings of Four Years Later – Fire Department Needs and Response Capabilities
Department of Homeland Security, USFA, and NFPA, January 2007
50 reports – one for each state, 66 pages each.  
Updated assessment of needs of fire service in each of the 50 states, covering most areas addressed in the national report.

Note: Reports are in PDF format and each is approximately 1.5 MB.

Errata Notification: Changes were made to Table 1, Department Type by Community Size, because the published table showed only departments responding to the survey, not the projection to all departments in the state. The following states were affected:Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada and Vermont.

A Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service
FEMA, USFA, and NFPA, December 2002. 160 pages.
A comprehensive study done by FEMA, USFA and NFPA examining the needs and response capabilities of the U.S. fire service. Among the factors examined are personnel and their capabilities; fire prevention and code enforcement; stations, apparatus and equipment; and the ability to handle unusually challenging incidents. Results are reported by nationwide and community size.

• All visitors can download this report for free. (PDF, 1 MB)
• "Underfunded, Understaffed, and Undertrained": Read NFPA President Jim Shannon's and others' reactions to the study in an NFPA Journal® Special Report (March/April 2003)

State-by-State Findings of Fire Department Needs and Response Capabilities
NFPA, July 2004
This study is a state-level breakdown of a national study conducted by NFPA in 2002, which was commissioned by FEMA/United States Fire Administration for Congress. Among the topics covered is fire department readiness for four specified tasks:

1. rescue for collapse of buildings where there are at least 50 occupants
2. hazmat and EMS response for a defined chemical/biological incidents.
3. response to a defined major wildland fire
4. response to a developing flood

Note: Reports are in PDF format and each is approximately 2.2 MB.