There were no firefighter fatalities as the result of wildland fires overrunning firefighters’ positions in 2002.

That’s the good news from the latest firefighter fatality study conducted by the U.S. Fire Administration. But 23 firefighters died from other causes while fighting wildland fires last year — eight more deaths than the previous year and the worst year for wildland LODDs since 1999. California and Colorado, where the fire season was especially severe, suffered the greatest casualties.

Wildland fatalities accounted for nearly a quarter of all U.S. firefighter fatalities in 2002, according to the 2002 Firefighters Fatality report released by the USFA Sept. 30.

2002 Wildland fatalities included:

• Five firefighters based in Oregon died in the crash of a passenger van in Colorado;

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• Three California firefighters died when their engine left the roadway and rolled;

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• Two firefighters died while completing pack tests in California and Montana;

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• Two firefighters suffered heart attacks as they fought wildland fires;

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• Two firefighters died in apparatus crashes while responding to wildland fires;

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• Two firefighters were thrown from wildland firefighting vehicles and struck; and

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• One firefighter died when he was struck by a falling tree.

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Killed last year were Joan Ester Spear, Leonard Gordon Knight, Bernes J. “Bernie” Schutte, Edna Faye Bishop, Robert Broussard, Steven Ray Wass, Craig Lebare, Michael Harlow Davis, Bartholomew Bailey, Jake Martindale, Daniel Rama, Retha Shirley, Zachary Zigich, Alan Wyatt, Rick Schwartz, Milt Stollak, Steven K. Oustad, Heather J. Depaolo, John Seth Self, Leonard Gordon Knight, Travis Lyn Wiens, Jason Kevin Jackson and Robert E. Peterson.

The firefighters were honored Oct. 5 in a national memorial service led by Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge in Emmitsburg, Md., on the site of the national fallen firefighter memorial.

"Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2002" is available online in PDF format at no charge from the United States Fire Administration Web site. The report also contains links to detailed NIOSH reports on some of the fatal incidents.