According to a USFA provisional report released in January, 111 firefighters died while on duty in 2003, an 11% increase over the 100 deaths recorded in 2002. With 29 of those deaths in wildland fires, it was the deadliest year for wildland firefighters since 1994, when the Storm King Fire killed 14 firefighters in Colorado, bringing the 1994 total to 36.

Heart attacks continued to be the leading cause of death for firefighters, killing 53 firefighters last year, followed by trauma, which took 44 firefighter lives.

According to the report, 36 states and Guam saw at least one firefighter die last year, and 20 firefighters died in seven multiple-fatality incidents.

• Eight Oregon firefighters were killed in a vehicle accident as they returned from fighting wildland fires.
• Two Memphis firefighters died fighting a fire in a business.
• Two Idaho firefighters were killed in July when a wildland fire trapped them.
• Two firefighters died in a helicopter crash in Arizona.
• Two Ohio firefighters died while operating at a silo fire.
• Two Nevada-based firefighters were killed in an airtanker crash in California.
• Two Oregon firefighters died in a helicopter crash.

The USFA collects and analyzes information about firefighter deaths each year to determine trends, make recommendations for further research or to propose changes in procedures that may serve to reduce fatalities in the future. These statistics are provisional and may vary slightly as new reports surface.

The complete report of 2003 firefighter fatalities is posted on the USFA Web site. At the request of fire department training officers, the USFA began updating its summary reports on firefighter fatalities on a monthly basis last year. Both the complete 2003 summary report and monthly 2004 firefighter summary reports can be viewed at the USFA Fallen Firefighters page, www.usfa.fema.gov/applications/ffmem/index.jsp

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