Wildland firefighter deaths in the United States: A comparison of existing surveillance systems

Abstract

Wildland fire fighting is a high-risk occupation requiring considerable physical and psychological demands. Multiple agencies publish fatality summaries for wildland firefighters; however, the reported number and types vary. At least five different surveillance systems capture deaths, each with varying case definitions and case inclusion/exclusion criteria. Four are population-level systems and one is case-based. System differences create challenges to accurately characterize fatalities. Data within each of the five surveillance systems were examined to better understand the types of wildland firefighter data collected, to assess each system’s utility in characterizing wildland firefighter fatalities, and to determine each system’s potential to inform prevention strategies. To describe similarities and differences in how data were recorded and characterized, wildland fire deaths for three of the population-based systems were matched and individual fatalities across systems were compared. Between 2001 and 2012, 247 unique deaths were captured among the systems; 73% of these were captured in all three systems. Most common causes of death in all systems were associated with aviation, vehicles, medical events, and entrapments/burnovers. The data show that, although the three systems often report similar annual summary statistics, events captured in each system vary each year depending on the types of events that the system is designed to track, such as inclusion/exclusion of fatalities associated with the Hometown Heroes Survivor Benefits Act of 2003. The overarching and central goal of each system is to collect accurate and timely information to improve wildland firefighter safety and health. Each system is unique and has varying inclusion and exclusion criteria for capturing and tracking different subsets of wildland firefighter tasks and duties. Use of a common case definition and better descriptions and interpretations of the data and the results would help to more accurately characterize wildland firefighter traumatic injuries and illnesses, lessen the likelihood for misinterpretation of wildland firefighter fatality data, and assist with defining the true occupational injury burden within this high-risk population.

A systematic review of the health impacts of occupational exposure to wildland fires

“…The extraction form was developed based on the Cochrane Collaboration's data collection form [17], amended to contain fields relevant to this review. The data extracted included the authors' names, year of publication, article title, study design, brief description of the study, location, setting (e.g., prescribed ministration [9] as well as physical and mental health hazards [10]. A risk assessment accounting for daily exposure, the annual number of working days, and career length suggests that exposures to benzene, formaldehyde, acrolein, and particulate matter are sufficient to pose health concerns [4].…”

A review of US wildland firefighter entrapments: trends, important environmental factors and research needs

“…Several US-based systems currently store and disseminate information on wildland fire-related injuries and fatalities. Butler et al (2017) reviewed five different surveillance systems that are used to report wildland firefighter fatalities, which include systems maintained by the US Fire Administration, the National Fire Protection Association, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Butler et al (2017) found that there was substantial overlap among the systems, with each having a slightly different focus based on criteria formally required by law and how each system deals with unique subsets of wildland firefighter tasks and duties (e.g.…”

“…Either by law or practice, many of the systems store data related to the same incident, resulting in duplication, which is both inefficient and potentially confusing. As noted by Butler et al (2017), some systems are required to track firefighter fatalities owing to various legal statutes, whereas others may not include fatalities associated with some specific tasks and duties. Having multiple reporting systems with different inclusion criteria makes it difficult to assess the quality and completeness of the datasets.…”

Measuring Initial Attack Suppression Effectiveness through Burn Probability

“…Over the past 30 years, area burned has doubled while suppression spending tripled [3]. Suppression costs are not only monetary: Suppression has altered the distribution of vegetation and wildlife, exacerbated fire hazards [4,5], and killed dozens of wildfire fighters in Canada [6] and the United States [7]. However, it is not clear how much suppression activities reduce wildfire likelihood to communities or other highly-valued resources and assets.…”