In July 1984, explosions and fire at an Illinois refinery claimed 17 lives. Of those, 11 who died were industrial responders, the most ever lost in a single incident.
In 2005, a total of 87 on-duty firefighter deaths occurred in the U.S. None of those deaths were industrial firefighters. Thankfully, fatality rates for industrial firefighters are non-existent most years, even if an unacceptable number of workers are still being lost. The year 1984 is one of the most painful exceptions with regard to industrial firefighter deaths.
Volume 23. No 4