- Author
- Karter, M. J., Jr.
- Title
- U.S. Fire Department Profile Through 2003.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Keywords
- fire departments | fire fighters | fire statistics | surveys
- Identifiers
- career fire fighters; volunteer fire fighters
- Abstract
- There were approximately 1,096,900 firefighters in the U.S. in 2003, according to estimates based on NFPA's 2003 National Fire Experience Survey. This is a slight decrease of 1.0% from a year ago. 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 fire fighting. Of the total number of firefighters, 296,850 or 27% were career firefighters, while 800,050 or 73% were volunteers. Most of the career firefighters (74%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people. Most of the volunteers (93%) are in departments that protect fewer than 25,000 people and more than half are located in the small, rural departments that protect fewer than 2,500 people. Since 1983, a generally upward trend in career firefighters has been more than offset by a generally downward trend in volunteer firefighters. This held true in 2003, as the decline in total firefighters occurred even though firefighters was up a slight 1.8% from the year before. The career firefighters total for 2003 was the highest ever recorded by NFPA. To put these changes in further context, NFPA analysis of personnel needs to provide safe and effective response to fires, in accordance with applicable NFPA standards and Insurance Service Office guidelines, estimated a need for 75,500-5,200 additional career firefighters on top of the late 2001 base. The increase as of 2003 is roughly 3,200, about 4% of what is needed. Additional volunteers are needed as well, but it is much more difficult to estimate the number needed because of the variability in numbers responding and locations from which they respond. However, the trend for volunteers has resumed its downward trend, following a brief increase in 2002, and so that need shows no sign of being addressed either.