Psychological Issues Among Wildland Firefighters

Wildland firefighters, like other emergency workers, suffer numerous psychological stressors in addition to physical stressors. Fox and Bowlus (1996: 42) list the following causes of stress among wildland firefighters: “line of duty death(s) or traumatic injury, severely injured or dead infants and children, very close calls that are particularly life threatening or emotionally upsetting, an incident attracting excessive media interest…a disaster…fire shelter deployment, burnovers, roll out of burning debris, and falling dead trees (snags)."

Fifty percent of 333 wildland firefighters reported experiencing 12 out of 45 stress symptoms listed on a questionnaire in a survey administered by Fox and Bowlus (1996). The following list includes the main stress symptoms and the percentage of respondents who experienced the symptom:

• 76% of those respondents experienced frustration
• 69% irritability
• 63% anger
• 62% sadness
• 62% sleep disturbances
• 59% mood swings
• 56% avoidance of feelings
• 56% loss of enthusiasm
• 54% fatigue
• 56% relationship problems
• 53% anxiety
• 52% depression