By Bill Carey
2 September 2025
The United States Fire Administration sometimes updates its records of on-duty firefighter deaths from previous years. These revisions change the total numbers reported here. There is usually no major announcement about these updates.
Below are the updates. The accompanying graph of yearly totals reflects both the original numbers and the revised figures, with the initial total in parentheses and the updated yearly total shown in the bar. Each previous year is being checked and updated, working backward.
For 2024, the updates did not include any traumatic fireground deaths, which the site identifies as “interior” deaths.
Added:
Roderick MacLeod
Roderick MacLeod responded to a mutual aid call late in the evening on 1/27/2024 for an automatic fire alarm. When he missed an appointment on 1/28/2024, fire department personnel performed a welfare check, and he was pronounced deceased at his home. The death certificate lists his cause of death as hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
USFA updated on 10 February 2025.
Brad Sherwood
Brad Sherwood worked a 24-hour shift that ended on 2/22/2024 at 8:00am, during which he responded to multiple calls. His last call to assist an ambulance with a lift assist cleared at 7:40am. He was discovered unresponsive at home where he was pronounced deceased at 6:30am on 2/23/2024 due to a heart attack.
USFA updated on 10 February 2025.
Darrin Spaulding
Fire Chief Darrin Spaulding responded to three emergency incidents including a vehicle crash, a lift assist, and an overdose. The last incident concluded at 8:58 a.m. Fire Chief Spaulding was discovered unconscious at approximately 10:18 a.m. and was treated and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. His death was caused by a heart attack.
USFA updated on 8 May 2025.
Cristian Medrano
Cristian Medrano participated in strenuous search and rescue exercises as part of his training at the Aurora Fire Academy on 4/11/2024 while wearing firefighting protective clothing and SCBA during the drills. He was found deceased at his home within 24 hours of training due to a cardiovascular incident.
USFA updated on 8 May 2025.
Daniel Stack
Daniel Stack responded to a residential structure fire on 5/8/2024 until 1:15am on 5/9/2024. After members returned to quarters and completed apparatus cleanup and SCBA cylinder swaps, they returned home. When Daniel Stack returned home, he complained of headaches. He was discovered unresponsive and his son, Firefighter Riley Stack, began resuscitation efforts. He was pronounced deceased at home due to a cerebral hemorrhage.
USFA updated on 8 May 2025.
James Maxwell
James Maxwell was fighting the Falls Fire in Eastern Oregon on 7/25/2024 in a single-engine tanker. He had dropped retardant on the Parasol Fire, north of the Falls Fire, and was returning to the base to reload, when his plane crashed, and he died.
USFA updated on 7 May 2025.
Juliana Turchetti
Juliana Turchetti was killed in a single-engine water scooper crash while assigned to the Horse Gulch Fire on the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest on 7/10/2024.
USFA updated on 8 May 2025.
George Snyder
George Snyder died due to a heart attack. He was investigating a fire at the time of his cardiac event and was transported to the hospital where he died on 8/10/2024.
USFA updated on Charles “Buddy” Freeman10 February 2025.
Nicholas “Nick” Morosco
Nicholas “Nick” Morosco responded to multiple calls during his shift on 8/27/2024 including an outdoor fire, an emergency medical call for an infant in distress, and participated in a 3-hour training on truck operations and maintenance. Shortly after returning home, he became unconscious. His sister, EMS Captain Alessandra Morosco-Davis responded immediately, and he was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
USFA updated on 8 May 2025.
Charles “Buddy” Freeman
Charles “Buddy” Freeman responded to a Hazardous Materials Incident for possible carbon monoxide poisoning at a residence three times on 7/9/2024. High levels of carbon monoxide were documented, and two residents were transported to the hospital with CO poisoning. Very early the next morning, Charles Freeman experienced chest pain and went to the hospital where it was determined that he had a heart attack. He had multiple heart surgeries and died due to surgery complications on 9/29/2024. He had not returned to work after the Hazardous Materials Incident.
USFA updated on 8 May 2025.
Peter “Pete” Joseph Blomberg
On Monday, October 28, 2024, while on-duty, Assistant Chief Peter “Pete” Joseph Blomberg was fatally struck by a vehicle while crossing the street en route to an annual Newtown Board of Fire Commissioners Meeting. His colleagues immediately performed CPR and he was then rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
USFA updated on 8 May 2025.
Removed:
On 22 January 2024 the USFA posted:
Firefighter Robert Earl Brown, Sr. was at the scene of a brush fire pulling hose when he suffered a medical emergency. He was immediately taken to the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center where he passed away a short time later from an apparent heart attack. Firefighter Robert Earl Brown, Sr., was the past chief of the Glendale Fire Department from 1976 to 2017.
Age: 87
Rank: Firefighter
Classification: Volunteer
Incident date: January 18, 2024 2:30 p.m.
Date of death: January 18, 2024
Cause of fatal injury: Stress/Overexertion
Nature of fatal injury: Heart Attack
Activity type: Advance Hose Lines/Fire Attack (includes Wildland)
Emergency duty: Yes
Duty type: On-Scene Fire
Fixed property use: Outdoor Property
This notice is no longer listed.
Data Not Drama 