- Author
-
Karter, M. J., Jr.
- Title
- U.S. Fire Department Profile Through 2005.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Keywords
-
fire departments
|
fire fighters
|
fire statistics
- Identifiers
- career fire fighters; volunteer fire fighters; Emergency Medical Services
- Abstract
- NFPA estimates that there were approximately 1,136,650 firefighters in the U.S. in 2005. Of the total number of firefighters, 313,300 or 28% were career firefighters and 823,350 (72%) were volunteer firefighters. Most of the career firefighters (76%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people. Most of the volunteer firefighters (95%) are in departments that protect fewer than 25,000 with more than half are located in small, rural departments that protect fewer than 2,500 people. There are an estimated 30,300 fire departments in the U.S. Of these, 2,087 departments are all career, 1,766 are mostly career, 4,092 are mostly volunteer and 21,575 are all volunteer. In the U.S., 12,900 or 43% of departments provide EMS service, 4,260 departments or 14% provide EMS service and advance life support, while 13,170 departments or 44% provide no EMS support.