This study is based on the annual "Safety Gram" (figure 3) produced by the NWCG's Safety and Health Working Team, allowing data from the initial period to be compared with that from the most recent period. The "Safety Gram" reports fatalities that meet the Safety and Health Working Team's criteria, as well as any fire entrapments and significant vehicle accidents that occur, even if they do not result in fatalities.

The main data in the "Safety Gram" include:

• The cause of death
• The agency for which the deceased worked
• The State where the fatality(ies) occurred

Figure 3—The "Safety Gram" published annually by the National Wildfire
Coordinating Group's Safety and Health Working Team was the source of
the data used in this report.

Other factors used in fatality analyses prepared by other groups and agencies were not used in this report.

They include:

• Month: While the month of a fatality may be an important factor in structural firefighting where there is a year-round fire workload, it has little relevance in wildland firefighting. The occurrence of wildland fire is generally seasonal across the United States, driven by highly variable weather conditions.
  
  
• Ages of Deceased: This information is not reported in the "Safety Gram."
  
  
• Time of Death: This information is not reported in the "Safety Gram."

The 1999 report, "Wildland Fire Fatalities in the United States: 1990 to 1998," lumped all contractors into a single class. In recent years, the contracted workforce has increased significantly. To distinguish trends, this report breaks ground contractors into a separate category from aviation contractors, such as pilots and flight crews.

During the entire period, 7 events with 3 to 14 fatalities each have the potential to distort the findings and mask some trends. This report shows the analysis and trends with and without these events. Percentages may not add up due to rounding.