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Rising firefighter suicides reflect toll of longer fire seasons and increased stress
David Fahrenthold Retweetedthis is a deeply upsetting trend: suicides are rising among firefighters and first-responders as longer fire seasons and more frequent mass casualty events take their toll
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Firefighter suicides reflect toll of longer fire seasons and increased stress
By Nina Agrawal
Mar 01, 2019 | 11:45 AM
Firefighter suicides reflect toll of longer fire seasons and increased stress
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Ernie Marugg, left, hugs Will Mitchell, whose son Ryan Mitchell killed himself in November 2017 after working a shift at Cal Fire's San Diego unit. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Capt. Ryan Mitchell had just finished three punishing weeks of firefighting. He had deployed to fires far from home, then returned only to dash out to another one.
Mitchell’s parents and 16-month-old son came to visit him at the station. ... “He didn’t look good. He was tired, he was thin, his eyes were shallow. He wasn’t his usual self,” Mitchell’s father, Will, recalled.
Two days later, Mitchell reported to Cal Fire’s San Diego unit headquarters in El Cajon for his regular 72-hour shift. ... After he finished, on Nov. 5, 2017, he drove east to the Pine Valley Creek Bridge, among the highest in the U.S. ... He parked his car, walked to the edge of the bridge and jumped.
Mitchell, 35, was one of at least 115 firefighters and emergency medical service workers in the U.S. who died by suicide in 2017, according to data compiled by the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, which tracks such figures nationwide.
....
By Nina Agrawal
Mar 01, 2019 | 11:45 AM
Firefighter suicides reflect toll of longer fire seasons and increased stress
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Ernie Marugg, left, hugs Will Mitchell, whose son Ryan Mitchell killed himself in November 2017 after working a shift at Cal Fire's San Diego unit. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Capt. Ryan Mitchell had just finished three punishing weeks of firefighting. He had deployed to fires far from home, then returned only to dash out to another one.
Mitchell’s parents and 16-month-old son came to visit him at the station. ... “He didn’t look good. He was tired, he was thin, his eyes were shallow. He wasn’t his usual self,” Mitchell’s father, Will, recalled.
Two days later, Mitchell reported to Cal Fire’s San Diego unit headquarters in El Cajon for his regular 72-hour shift. ... After he finished, on Nov. 5, 2017, he drove east to the Pine Valley Creek Bridge, among the highest in the U.S. ... He parked his car, walked to the edge of the bridge and jumped.
Mitchell, 35, was one of at least 115 firefighters and emergency medical service workers in the U.S. who died by suicide in 2017, according to data compiled by the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, which tracks such figures nationwide.
....
