Firefighters

Wildland firefighting remains a dangerous business, with more than 1,000 people killed in the line of duty since the Great Fire of 1910 in the Northern Rockies. The government reports no deaths for the subsequent 15 years, which may be due to a lack of data. Most firefighting deaths have occurred in the West, and the most common causes were burnovers, heart attacks, and accidents in vehicles or aircraft. Learn more about the issue by checking out our wildfire page and PowerPoint deck.

Click or mouse over a data point to display metadata. Reset the view by clicking on the refresh button below. Data is only available through 2011 from the National Interagency Fire Center.

Visualizing environmental trends