A total of 87 firefighters died onduty deaths in the first six months of 2017, according to data from the United States Fire Administration USFA. This total includes 62 onduty deaths that were recorded as having occurred while the victim was engaged in the actual firefighting operation but does not include those that were involved in the victim’s transport to the hospital or the victim receiving treatment. This does not include victims who became trapped in the smoke or were struck by debris during the fire.
There were also numerous fatalities that occurred while advancing hoselines, searching for occupants or dealing with other emergencies. There were 84 during the first month of 2017, with the youngest being 15. The oldest was 74 years old. Nearly half of the fatalities during the first month were engaged in interior operations, including searching for occupants, while the youngest was 19.
Advancing HoselinesThe first time a firefighter died while advancing hoselines was during a structure fire in April. A 43year old career Ohio firefighter suffered a heart attack while working with a mutual aid fire department at a grass fire with a reported structure collapse. His death is one of two for the month and would be the third involving interior firefighting.
This incident is also considered a preventable death. From the USFA data five were killed while advancing hoselines inside a burning structure. Of those five, two died several hours after the incident and one died several days later.
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