By Bill Carey
18 July 2026
The first half of 2026 ended with 40 on-duty deaths, according to the United States Fire Administration (USFA). The current total for the year is 44, as of 15 July.
The number of interior traumatic line-of-duty deaths for the first half of the year is 3, or 6 percent of the current total. The number rises to 5 when including two fatalities that occurred on the exterior of structures.
Data Not Drama reports interior traumatic LODDs to help the fire service better interpret and understand firefighter fatality data, countering generalizations and assumptions with facts.
These numbers are traumatic firefighter deaths that occurred during advancing hoselines/fire attack, search and rescue, and ventilation while inside a burning structure. Traumatic firefighter deaths that happen outside of a burning structure, due to structural collapse or explosion, are also included in this data set as part of the larger differentiation between traumatic fireground deaths and yearly totals.
Advancing Hoselines/Fire Attack
Two firefighters died in residential structure fires under the activity type advancing hoselines/fire attack.
23 May, Boston: Firefighter killed when he fell from the exterior deck of a three-story apartment house.
14 June, Odessa, Texas: Lieutenant killed during rapidly deteriorating conditions while battling a trailer fire.
Search and Rescue
One firefighter died during a fire in an apartment building.
17 March, Chicago: Firefighter killed in a collapse of the first floor into the basement.
Exterior Traumatic Fatalities
Two firefighters died as a result of an explosion during a fire involving a lumber mill silo. One was listed under advancing hoselines/fire attack and the other under pump operations.
There were no traumatic fireground fatalities involving ventilation.
First-Half of Year Interior LODDs:
2025: 3
2024: 3
2023: 3 (1 multi-fatality incident)
2022: 7 (1 multi-fatality incident)
2021: 4 (1 multi-fatality incident)
2020: 5 (1 multi-fatality incident)
2019: 4
2018: 5 (1 multi-fatality incident)
2017: 1
2016: 2 (1 multi-fatality incident)
Featured photo courtesy of Unsplash.
Data Not Drama 