Although fire fighting may be considered one of the most dangerous professions, more firefighters die in vehicle crashes than die during fires, according to a recent report.

The report, released last week by the National Fire Protection Association, indicated 105 firefighters died in 2003, up from 97 the year before. Thirty-seven of those firefighters were killed either responding to or returning from fires, compared to 29 who died at the actual location of a fire.

It was the lowest number of firefighter deaths at fire scenes since the National Fire Protection Association began collecting statistics in 1977, according to Firefighter Fatalities in the United States — 2003.

The report also showed 33 firefighters died in vehicle crashes in 2003, the highest rate since 1977.

Twenty-four of those firefighters were killed in a variety of crashes or rollovers, including six cases in which firefighters were driving their personal vehicles. Some of these cases involved careless or unsafe driving, driving faster than road conditions allowed and alcohol use, according to the report.

By far, volunteer firefighters fared much worse than career professionals in the report.

While responding to or returning from an alarm, volunteers died at a rate five times than that of career firefighters. While at a fire, volunteers lost 50 percent more personnel than professionals.

In addition, of those firefighters suffering a heart attack, volunteers’ rates more than doubled that of career firefighters.

The age of those killed in 2003 range from 16 to 81, with the extreme ends of the scale belonging to volunteers.

The report includes only “on-duty” deaths — accidents that proved fatal, illnesses that resulted in death incurred as a result of actions while on duty, and fatal mishaps while on duty that involved non-emergency occupational hazards.

There have been two Ames firefighters killed in the line of duty, Ames Fire Chief Clint Peterson said. David Sills died Feb. 15, 1952, in a fire at the Harrison Publishing Company, and Joseph Hyler died of a heart attack following a fire Jan. 10, 1963.

Peterson said all his firefighters, excluding first-year probationary firefighters, attend a driver’s training course for emergency vehicles annually. The course is administered by the Fire Service Training Bureau by instructors certified by the National Fire Academy.

The last on-duty firefighter death in Iowa came Sept. 14, 2002, when Michael Kruse of Muscatine died, Peterson said.

The most deadly year in recent Iowa fire fighting history was in 2000, when three firefighters died — one each in Winterset, Story City and Cedar Rapids.