Firefighters
Career firefighters include full-time (career) uniformed firefighters regardless of assignments, e.g., suppression, prevention/inspection, administrative. Career firefighters included here work for a public municipal fire department; they do not include career firefighters who work for state or federal government or in private fire brigades.
Volunteer firefighters include any active part-time (call or volunteer) firefighters. Active volunteers are defined as being involved in firefighting.
- Estimated number of firefighters in 2006: 1,140,900 (career: 316,950, volunteer: 823,950)
- Firefighters by age group: 16-19 (3.9%), 20-29 (21.1%), 30-39 (28.7%), 40-49 (26.4%), 50-59 (14.9%) 60 and over (5.0%)
- Seventy-four percent of career firefighters are in communities that protect a population of 25,000 or more.
- Ninety-five percent of the volunteers are in departments that protect a population of less than 25,000 and more than 50% are located in small, rural departments that protect a population of less than 2,500.
Source: National Fire Protection Association, U.S. Fire Department Profile Through 2006
Related Topics
Related Publications (Download, Help)
Fire-Related Firefighter Injuries in 2004 (PDF, 2.5 Mb)- Firefighter Injuries in Structures (PDF, 95 Kb)
- Firefighter Injuries (PDF, 119 Kb)
- Firefighter Fatalities in 2000 (PDF, 110 Kb)
Links of Interest
Last Reviewed: February 28, 2008
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