82 American Firefighters Died On Duty In 2018

The U.S. Fire Administration has released its annual report on the number of firefighter fatalities in the United States. The study defines the term "firefighter" as all members of organized fire departments with assigned fire suppression duties in all 50 states, D.C. and the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.

82 firefighters died doing their jobs last year, a decrease on the 88 who lost their lives in 2017. Out of that total, 44 were volunteers, 33 were career firefighters and 5 were responsible for wildland. 2013 remains the worst year for fatalities over the past decade with 109 deaths. Due to 9/11, 2001 remains by far the worst year in memory with 450 U.S. firefighters dying on duty that year.