Eighty-seven on-duty firefighters died in the United States in 2005, according to a new report released by the National Fire Protection Association. That number falls 28 short of the 115 LODDs the U.S. Fire Administration is reporting for the same time period.

According to the NFPA study, firefighters are more likely to die from a sudden cardiac event (usually a heart attack) than any other cause.

For the third straight year, NFPA reported that firefighters were more likely to die responding to or returning from alarms and not at the scene of a fire. Of the 26 deaths occurring in transit, 13 were due to sudden cardiac death and 10 were due to vehicle collisions or rollovers.

The second highest number of deaths occurred at the fireground. Sudden cardiac death was the major cause, accounting for 11 of the 25 fatalities in this category as well.

For the fourth consecutive year the number of firefighter deaths during training activities has been 11, making up 13% of total deaths in 2005. Sudden cardiac death was the lead cause with seven deaths: one firefighter drowned during dive training, one suffered a stroke, one died of heat stroke and one fell off a roof. NFPA conducted a special analysis on the 100 training fatalities that occurred between 1996 and 2005. The study is available at www.nfpa.org.

A range of factors contributed to the drop in fatalities in 2005 from the 103 the agency reported for 2004, including decreases in the number of deaths associated with wildland fires and the number of firefighters struck and killed by vehicles.

One reason for the large discrepancy is that the USFA includes fatalities that would qualify as line-of-duty deaths under the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act. Under the act, public safety officers who die from a heart attack or stroke within 24 hours of a non-routine stressful or strenuous physical public safety activity or training are considered to have died in the line of duty. This accounts for 21 of the USFA's fatalities.

By contrast, the NFPA will only consider a death caused by heart attack as an LODD if the victim reported symptoms while he or she was on duty.

The USFA's report, Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2005, can be downloaded from www.usfa.dhs.gov. Orders for printed copies will be accepted beginning in September through the USFA Publications Center.

Additional information on firefighter fatalities, including the annual fatality reports from 1986 through 2004 and the Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study 1990-2000, can be found at the USFA's Web site, www.usfa.dhs.gov/fatalities/.