A New Enemy for First Responders in 2020

Few events rock a community like the loss of a firefighter and first responder. Those heroes among us are known commodities—citizen faces we know and trust, oftentimes our own neighbors or friends or family members.

Thus far in 2020, The U. S. Fire Administration has reported 81 firefighter fatalities classified as losses in the line of duty. If you visit their tracking page and click the names of the fallen, you understand how each person passed away—and in those moments you realize how much is put on the line when someone chooses first response as a profession or as a volunteer vocation.

But what the fire administration is not tracking—and what our friends at FireRescue1.com are tracking—is another cause of death in the firefighter community that is on the rise nationally.

To date, 47 firefighters across the country have lost their lives to COVID-19.

We place these dark statistics side by side – 81 firefighter fatalities and 47 firefighter fatalities as a result of the Coronavirus – to illustrate a simple, evident fact:

The coronavirus is a clear and present danger.

And while we have no way of knowing whether or not the fallen 47 above contracted the virus while at work or at leisure; at home, out shopping, or on a run—what we do know is that the virus (and its complications) cost these firefighters their lives.

Simple Reminders For Safety.

As we head into the deep winter months, we’ve always had a simple checklist of common sense consumer safety tips that happen annually with the “fall back” of our clocks.

• Change the batteries in your smoke detectors and home protection/monitoring devices.
• Check the charge level on home fire extinguishers.
• Inspect and clean your space heaters, never leave them unattended, and keep then away from drapes and other potentially flammable objects. (The same holds true for Christmas/holiday candles).
• Inspect your electrical outlets, holiday lighting strands, and be sure you’re managing circuit load for holiday displays and decorations.
• Review your family’s fire safety plan, and execute a fire drill at least once a year.

What we’d like to add to that list—hopefully only necessary for this year and a chunk of the next—are the list of things you can do to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

• Wear a mask when outside your home.
• Minimize or consolidate your trips outside the home.
• Follow social distancing guidelines when in groups, and keep those groups small.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Avoid large gatherings, and be conscious of the people and places both you (and members of your family) come in contact with.

Look—it’s not political and it’s not conspiracy. America has lost well over a quarter-million people to this virus, with firefighters among them.

It is not too late to be more safe.

For more information on coronavirus and how it is affecting fire service, click here to see our First Response Reminders blog—which includes links to resources we all should consider bookmarking.