On-duty firefighter fatalities fell from 117 in 2004 to 106 in 2005, according to the United States Fire Administration.

Heart attacks were responsible for the deaths of 48 firefighters in 2005, down from 61 in 2004. Vehicle crashes took the lives of 26 firefighters in 2005.

The average age of a firefighter killed in 2005 was 46, according to the USFA. The youngest firefighter to die while on-duty in 2005 was an 18-year-old Connecticut firefighter who died after falling from a ladder during training. The oldest firefighter to die while on-duty in 2005 was a 76-year-old New Jersey firefighter who was struck by a suspected drunk driver at a roadside emergency scene.