Firefighter Fatality Report For 2022 Released

The National Fire Protection Association® has released a new report…it’s called “Fatal Firefighter Injuries in the U.S. in 2022”. That report showed a total of 96 on-duty U.S. firefighter fatalities in 2022. Of these deaths, 51 were volunteer firefighters, 38 were career firefighters, six were contractors for federal or state land management agencies, and one was a full-time federal land management employee. Trauma injuries accounted for 33 firefighter deaths, including 20 internal trauma deaths, six deaths by crushing, five deaths due to unspecified traumatic injuries, and two deaths due to gunshot injuries or projectile wounds.

There was a big change in the report for 2022…as the number of injury and cardiac-related fatalities was higher last year compared to past years. That is largely due to the inclusion of deaths occurring within 24 hours of duty, which were previously not counted in the report unless there was a specific physical complaint while on duty. The report now includes fatal injuries and cardiac deaths that occurred within 24 hours of duty, irrespective of manifested or reported symptoms. There were also six multiple fatality incidents of firefighters that occurred in 2022, and that is the highest number of multiple fatality incidents since 2009.

It’s worth noting that the vast majority of firefighters here in Cocke County are volunteer. So they risk their lives voluntarily for us each and every day.

About the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)