In 2020 and 2023, firefighters died in the line of duty, prompting investigations by federal health workers specializing in safety reviews. However, the Trump administration moved to terminate a significant majority of these employees from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), specifically affecting the team that investigates firefighter fatalities. The layoffs were sudden, causing immediate disruptions that included abandonment of lab animals and compromised ongoing safety investigations into fire departments, posing long-term implications for firefighter safety and fatality prevention efforts.
But President Donald Trump's administration has taken steps to fire nearly all of the Department of Health and Human Services employees responsible for conducting those reviews.
Most nonunionized NIOSH workers were given until the end of the day to clear out their desks. The layoffs were so abrupt, staff said, that lab animals were left without staff to care for them.
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