By Bill Carey
7 January 2024
The following data is the final tally, to date, of firefighter traumatic fatalities inside burning structures for 2023. It is also subject to change based upon changes by the United States Fire Administration, related information from the NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, or department line-of-duty death investigation reports.
To list traumatic firefighter fatalities that occurred during fireground operations, the data presented counts interior deaths as those traumatic deaths where the victim was involved in fire extinguishment, search and rescue, and ventilation. Deaths due to heart attack, cardiac arrest or stroke are not listed.
This data also includes those firefighters killed by building collapse or explosion while outside of the structure but in very close proximity. It does not count vehicle fires. Items that may be an anomaly in the data set for any given year are noted.
The reasoning behind presenting this specific data is not to lessen the loss of other line-of-duty deaths. Instead, it is meant to provide specific information commonly not presented by fire service organizations and individuals and refute common claims when our fatality data is misunderstood and misrepresented.
10 out of the 85 total on-duty deaths (12%) are under the interior definition. This number matches the same number of interior deaths in 2015. The lowest number was 1 in 2017.
Two Newark, New Jersey firefighters died while trying to extinguish burning vehicles on board a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship. The USFA lists their deaths under Advancing Hoselines.
The Newark fatalities were one of two multi-fatality incidents that occurred in 2023. Two Baltimore firefighters died while fighting a rowhouse fire.
Activity Type
The USFA lists all 10 deaths under the Activity Type “Advancing Hoselines/Fire Attack (including Wildland), however there is a conflict. On 13 November, a Chicago firefighter fell through a skylight during a fire at a mixed-occupancy structure. Despite the victim was assigned to a truck company (Truck Company 44), early details from a press conference from the battalion chief on the scene (“Truck 44 put a ladder to the roof to assist with vertical ventilation.”) and their own information about the on-duty death (“- was on the roof opening up holes for ventilation,”), Advancing Hoselines is incorrect.
Could “opening holes” be part of Fire Attack? It could however past on-duty deaths listed by the USFA where firefighters were on a roof performing ventilation and fell, have been listed as Ventilation. Nothing stands out to consider it otherwise and as it has been shown here before, USFA data does have errors and inaccuracies.
Data here places this victim under the Activity Type “Ventilation.”
Advancing Hoselines/Fire Attack was the leading activity type for the year with 16 deaths, almost 19% of the total number. This was followed by Other with nine and In-Station Duties, Driving/Operating Vehicle/Apparatus, Riding Vehicle/Apparatus and Unknown, each with eight.
Structures
Of the structure type, seven were residential, one was commercial and a cargo ship involved the death of two firefighters.
The residential structures were single-family dwellings (3), townhouses/rowhouses (2) and an apartment building (1). None of these structures were abandoned.
Company and Alarm Assignment
Seven victims were assigned to an engine company and three to a truck company. All of the victims were on the initial alarm.
Firefighter Jason Arno, Buffalo, Engine 2
Firefighter James Michael Muller, Irmo Fire District, Ladder 175
Firefighter Brice C. Trossbach, NAS Patuxent River, Engine 2
Firefighter Augusto Acabou, Newark, Engine 16
Firefighter Wayne Brooks, Jr., Newark, Engine 16
Lieutenant Jeffrey Norman, Memphis, Engine 10
Lieutenant Kevin P. Ward, Chicago, Truck 9
EMT/Firefighter Rodney Pitts, III, Baltimore, Engine 29
Lieutenant Dillon J. Rinaldo, Baltimore, Engine 46
Firefighter/EMT Andrew B. Price, Chicago, Truck 44
Cause and Nature of Death
Caught/Trapped is the leading cause of death with four. Three died due to Collapse. Two died due to Fall and one is listed as Unknown. No firefighters died due to Burns.
Caught/Trapped:
Arno, Buffalo – Backdraft and collapse/Trauma
Acabao, Brooks; Newark – Lost in cargo ship/Asphyxiation
Norman, Memphis – Trapped/Asphyxiation
Collapse:
Muller, Irmo – Structural collapse/Crushed
Pitts, Rinaldo; Baltimore – “Overwhelmed”/Trauma
Fall:
Trossbach, NAS Patuxent River – Fell into basement/Trauma
Price, Chicago – Fell through skylight
Unknown:
Ward, Chicago – “Critically injured”
Stress/Overexertion were the leading cause of death, as expected, followed by Vehicle Collision.
Summary
Interior traumatic on-duty deaths increased in 2023 to the same number -10 – in 2015. Data beyond 2015 is being gathered. While the total number of on-duty deaths declined in the last three years and interior deaths rose slightly, traumatic interior firefighter fatalities continue to be a small percentage the yearly total for each year.
The percentage of traumatic interior deaths (12%) was less than the percentage of on-duty deaths listed due to the Hometown Heroes Act as well (16 out of 85, 18%).
Data Not Drama 