Fire Departments
- Estimated number of fire departments in 2006: 30,635
- Estimated number of stations in the United States for 2004-2006: 53,200
- A fire department responds to a fire in the United States every 19.0 seconds
| Response | Number | % Change from 2005 |
|---|---|---|
| Fires | 1,642,500 | +2.5 |
| Medical Aid | 15,062,500 | +4.8 |
| False Alarms | 2,119,500 | -0.7 |
| Mutual Aid/Assistance | 1,159,500 | +6.3 |
| Hazmat | 388,500 | +3.6 |
| Other Hazardous (Arcing wires, bomb removal, etc.) | 659,000 | -1.2 |
| All Other (Smoke scares, lock-outs, etc.) | 3,438,500 | +14.3 |
| TOTAL | 24,470,000 | +5.2 |
- Fire department types*: Career (7.6%), Mostly Career (5.6%), Mostly Volunteer (16.8%), All Volunteer (70.0%)
- 13% of all departments are career or mostly career and protect 62% of the U.S. population
- 87% of fire departments are volunteer or mostly volunteer and protect 38% of the population
- There are an estimated 69,300 pumpers and 6,700 aerial apparatus in the United States for 2004-2006
* Career=100% career firefighters, Mostly Career=51%-99% career firefighters, Mostly Volunteer=1%-50% career firefighters, Volunteer=100% volunteer firefighters
Source: National Fire Protection Association reports Fire Loss in the United States During 2006 and U.S. Fire Department Profile Through 2006
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Last Reviewed: December 11, 2007
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