The National Fire Protection Association reported that 83 US firefighters died while on duty or within 24 hours of duty in 2025, a 17% increase from the 69 fatalities recorded in 2024.
The findings were published in NFPA’s annual “Fatal Firefighter Injuries in the US in 2025” report. Of the total deaths, 65 involved firefighters who died on duty from traumatic injuries, heart attacks, strokes, or other medical conditions. A further 18 fatalities involved heart attacks that occurred off duty but within 24 hours of on-duty activity.
NFPA began including fatal heart attacks, strokes, aneurysms, and other medical conditions that occur within 24 hours of duty in 2022. The organization continues to report those deaths separately to support consistent long-term trend comparisons.
“While we do see fluctuations in the number of firefighter fatalities each year, as we did in 2025, there has been a consistent downward trend in the number of annual fatalities since the study began nearly 50 years ago,” said Richard Campbell, senior research analyst at NFPA and lead author of the report.
Municipal firefighters accounted for 95% of the 2025 fatalities, including 34 career firefighters and 45 volunteer firefighters. The remaining four deaths involved wildland firefighters: two federal wildland contract firefighters, one state forestry supervisor, and one seasonal state wildland firefighter.
Heart attacks remained the leading cause of firefighter deaths, accounting for 45 fatalities. Twenty-seven occurred while firefighters were on duty, while 18 occurred within 24 hours of duty. Volunteer firefighters accounted for 16 of the 18 heart attack deaths that occurred after duty.
“Sudden cardiac death remains a critical concern among firefighters. Fitness programs, annual medical evaluations, and medical monitoring continued to serve as preventative measures that support cardiac health for all firefighters and should be prioritized,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the number of sudden cardiac deaths among volunteer firefighters within 24 hours of duty points to the need for additional intervention, particularly because volunteers may not return to the station after a call and may have less immediate access to medical treatment.
Overexertion and strain were the leading causes of on-duty fatal injuries, responsible for 29 deaths, or 45% of the total. Crashes were the second-leading cause, accounting for 13 fatal injuries, while firefighters also died after being caught or trapped, struck by objects, falls, assaults, contact-related injuries, and undetermined causes.
NFPA noted that crash-related fatalities remain a significant safety concern. Previous research has linked fatal fire service crashes to factors including driver error, excessive speed, lack of seat belt use, inclement weather, and the use of private vehicles.
“Career and volunteer firefighters are increasingly called upon to handle an ever-growing range of incidents in their communities, many of which present high-risk, high-stress situations,” said Jay Petrillo, NFPA research analyst and co-author of the report. “The data from this year’s study show that as the demands on career and volunteer firefighters continue to grow and evolve, the need for comprehensive injury prevention training and strategies remains critical.”
The firefighter fatal injuries study was produced with assistance from the US fire service, NIOSH, the United States Fire Administration, the Forest Service of the US Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Land Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
