Why This Matters Now
The national fire problem, in context
A shared learning system matters because the national fire problem is large, persistent, and only partly visible in existing data. Every figure here is drawn from authoritative sources and labeled provisional, year-to-date, or to-be-captured — never estimated.
Why This Matters Now
National Fire Problem Dashboard
The scale of the national fire problem is the reason a shared learning system matters. The figures below will be drawn from authoritative sources and clearly labeled. Final national totals for recent years are often released on a lag, so values are shown as provisional, year-to-date, or pending until verified — and are never estimated here.
The national fire problem
Total U.S. fires — 2024
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ProvisionalMost recent year with reported national totals; provisional until finalized.
Source: NFPA / USFA (FEMA)
Total U.S. fires — 2025
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ProvisionalProvisional / reported incidents; not yet finalized.
Source: NFPA / USFA (FEMA) / NIFC
Total U.S. fires — 2026 (YTD)
Year-to-date
Pending data integrationYear-to-date reported incidents; not a final annual total.
Source: NERIS / NFIRS reported incidents
Civilian fire deaths
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ProvisionalSource: NFPA / USFA (FEMA)
Civilian fire injuries
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ProvisionalSource: NFPA / USFA (FEMA)
Firefighter line-of-duty / on-duty deaths
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ProvisionalSource: USFA · NFFF · CDC/NIOSH
Firefighter death categories
Where available, fatalities are broken out by category to focus learning. Counts will be populated from authoritative sources.
Source: NFPA · USFA (FEMA) · CDC/NIOSH · NFFF
What national data doesn’t capture — and LFEF can
Some of the most operationally important measures are not reliably available in national datasets. These are intended to be captured, de-identified, through LFEF submissions.
Civilian rescue / removal timing
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFNot reliably available in national data; captured from source records where present.
Source: LFEF submissions
First-arriving & first-alarm staffing
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions (CAD + narratives)
Time to effective response force
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions (timeline)
Staffing, Response Force, and Operational Capacity
Staffing shapes what happens on the fireground
How many firefighters arrive, how quickly an effective response force is assembled, and how hard crews must work all shape outcomes. These factors are difficult to see in national data — but they are visible in the source records of individual incidents, and LFEF is built to capture them, de-identified.
First-arriving staffing
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions (CAD + narratives)
Total first-alarm staffing
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions
Time to assemble effective response force
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions (timeline)
Delayed-staffing impacts
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions
Mutual-aid dependence
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions
Exposure & fatigue during extended operations
To be captured
To be captured via LFEFSource: LFEF submissions (narratives)
Operational factors LFEF helps make visible
Captured objectively from source records and reported only in de-identified, aggregate form.
Help the fire service learn from this fire.
Every submission becomes an anonymized lesson others can use. No login. No names. No blame.