The 30th annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend will be held at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md., on Oct. 15–16. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the U.S. Fire Administration will honor 72 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2010. Seventeen firefighters who died in previous years also will be honored. A bronze plaque containing their names will be added to the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial, located on the NFA campus.

Twenty‐seven states experienced line‐of‐duty deaths in 2010. Deaths resulted from vehicle accidents while en route to or returning from emergency calls, building collapses, natural-disaster response, falling, drowning, heart attacks, and burns/smoke inhalation. Three multiple-fatality incidents accounted for six deaths. One multiple-fatality incident occurred during a flashover at a structural fire; one incident resulted from an apparatus accident, and one involved a building collapse at a commercial structure fire. Illinois had the nation’s greatest number of firefighter line‐of‐duty deaths in 2010 with 8, followed by New York and Pennsylvania with 7 and Kansas had 6, according to the NFFF.

The NFFF also announced Bells Across America for Fallen Firefighters. During the October memorial service, the bells at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Chapel will ring to honor the memories of those who died. Fire departments across the country are invited to recruit their local prayer assemblies to join in the tribute by ringing of the bells during their own services. The tolling of bells holds special meaning for firefighters as it signified the beginning of a shift, a call for help, and the return to the station once a fire was extinguished. Bells also are customarily rung to notify department members that a comrade had died in the line of duty.

“During the service, the bells at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Chapel in Emmitsburg will ring to honor the memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice this past year,” said Chief Ronald Siarnicki, executive director of the NFFF said, during a press briefing. “We are encouraging fire departments across the country to invite their local prayer assemblies to join us in this poignant tribute to our fallen heroes with a prayer and ringing of the bells during their own services.”

For more information about participating in Bells Across America for Fallen Firefighters and to download the invitation letter and response form, visit the NFFF's website.