Risk of injury by job assignment among federal wildland firefighters, United States, 2003-2007

Abstract

Background: Wildland fires cost billions of dollars annually and expose thousands of firefighters to a variety of occupational hazards. Little is known about injury patterns among wildland firefighters.

Methods: We examined non-fatal firefighter injuries among federal wildland firefighters reported to the US Department of the Interior for the years 2003-2007. The risk of disabling injury by job assignment, controlling for demographic and temporal variables, was assessed with logistic regression.

Results: Of the 1301 non-fatal injuries, slips, trips, and falls were the most frequent injury types and sprains/strains were the most common injury. Engine crew workers suffered a third of all injuries. Handcrews and helitak/smokejumper assignments had increased odds of sprains and strains, which were the most common injury overall.

Conclusions: While some injuries are equally prevalent by job assignment, others vary. Identifying hazards leading to these injuries will be essential to develop prevention strategies.