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FIREFIGHTER DATA – Not Drama…Just The Facts….

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An old friend of Fire Fighter Close Calls TSL (The Secret List), Bill Carey put together a factual review of Firefighter LODD’s for 2022:
Here is the info from Bill: (entire article link below) along with some thoughts from Frank Leeb.
2022 ended with a total, as of 26 December, of 96 on-duty deaths as defined and recorded by the United States Fire Administration (USFA)[1].
Of those 96, nine (9%) were interior fatalities.
For providing specific data, I define interior deaths as those on the fireground that are traumatic versus those that are medical in the same way the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program differentiates the two[2]. Since the majority of discussion and writing about interior deaths[3] focus on the specific interior and up close work (advancing hoselines, searching for occupants, and vertical ventilation) I may include deaths where the victim was working on the ground outside of the structure but close enough to have been killed in a collapse or explosion.
The interior data presented lists the fatalities by their USFA Activity Type (Advancing Hoselines, excluding Wildland; Search and Rescue; and Ventilation) but only those as noted in the introduction. Based on the details of each fatality from the time of the incident and including investigation reports. I also include data on structure type, occupancy, the victim’s company/assignment, and the cause and nature of death. These add to a better understanding of the data.
In 2022 there were no firefighter line of duty deaths involving a search for occupants, the first time since 2018 that there were no deaths related to this activity. In 2022 there was also no line of duty deaths involving vertical ventilation, continuing a trend of no fatalities while performing roof ventilation since 2012. All nine interior deaths in 2022 involved Advancing Hoselines.
There were two multiple fatality incidents in 2022. The first occurred on 24 January in Baltimore, Maryland involving three firefighters caught in a collapse. The second involved two firefighters in West Penn Township, Pennsylvania on 7 December who became trapped while searching for occupants. 2019 is the most recent year where the fire service did not have interior multiple fatality incidents.

Advancing Hoselines
6 January : Los Angeles County, CA (incident audio)
13 January: St. Louis, MO
24 January: Baltimore, MD | Baltimore, MD | Baltimore, MD (incident audio)
24 April: New York, NY
18 June: Philadelphia, PA (incident audio Part 1 | Part 2)
7 December: West Penn Township, PA | West Penn Township, PA (incident audio)

Bill’s Article Continued HERE:  https://data-not-drama.com/2023/01/07/2022-interior-deaths/

WHAT SHOULD WE DRILL ON?
As TSL EAB member Frank Leeb noted in social media, based upon the excellent research BIll did, “THIS is a great list of “what we should/must drill on ” in 2023.

NOTE: Drill on them based upon your response reality-what your department gets related to first alarm response, reality staffing and your department policies and procedures etc.

1-ADVANCING HOSE LINES

2-RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES/FIRE OPERATIONS

3-ENGINE COMPANY PROCEDURES

4-STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE

5-FIRE BEHAVIOR

6-FIRST DUE COMPANY TACTICS/OPERATIONS

7-SECOND DUE COMPANY TACTICS/OPERATIONS