# Career firefighters, those who are employed full-time as firefighters, comprised 29 deaths (27%) in 2004.
# Volunteer, seasonal, and part-time firefighters accounted for 78 deaths.
# Half of the firefighters that died in 2004 died from traumatic injuries such as asphyxiation, burns, drowning, vehicle crashes, and other physical injuries.
# The balance of firefighter deaths in 2004 were attributed to non-traumatic injuries such as heart attacks and strokes. Heart attacks caused the deaths of 49 on-duty firefighters.
# Nine firefighters died in 2004 in response to wildland fires (grass, trees, brush). This is the lowest level of wildland-related firefighter deaths since 1996 and represents a significant drop from the 29 wildland-related firefighter deaths that occurred in 2003.
# Three firefighters were killed when fire apparatus backed over them.
# A Pennsylvania incident occurred at the fire station and was not associated with an emergency response.
# Five firefighters were killed when they were struck by passing vehicles at the scene of an emergency.
# Additionally, four firefighters were killed in falls from fire department vehicles.
# A Massachusetts firefighter died when he fell from a responding engine company. This department also suffered a fatal fall injury involving fire apparatus in 1984.
# A Kentucky firefighter was shot and killed as she approached an emergency that involved domestic violence.
# Twenty firefighters died in vehicle collisions.
Categories: fireRescue headsUp thinkZone fatalities
fireRescue thinkZone headsUp fatalities
