QUINCY, Mass. — The National Fire Protection Association recently released a report outlining the numbers and characteristics of U.S. fire departments and firefighters.
It includes information on the number of total fire stations, pumpers and ladders nationwide and also touches on the usage of equipment by community size and the total national direct expenditures on local fire protection.
The NFPA estimated that there were approximately 1,129,250 firefighters in the U.S. in 2012. This is an increase of 2.6 percent from a year ago, according to the NFPA’s report.
Of that total number:
- 345,950 or 31 percent were career firefighters
- 783,300 or 69 percent were volunteer firefighters
The majority of the career firefighters are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people and the volunteer firefighters protect fewer than 25,000 people, according to the report.
NFPA reports an estimated total number of 30,100 fire departments in the U.S.
- 2,610 are all career
- 1,995 mostly career
- 5,445 mostly volunteer
- 20,050 strictly volunteer-based
The estimated number of apparatus and stations in the U.S. for 2010 to 2012 period indicate that there were:
- 66,900 pumpers
- 6,900 aerial apparatus
- 74,000 other suppression vehicles
- 51,650 stations
These numbers reflect averages of apparatus and station rates per 1,000 people by population protected reported to the NFPA. They do not represent recommended rates or some defined fire protection standard, according to the report.
Lastly, the report shows expenditures on local fire protection by governments.
Fire protection costs rose 115 percent from 1986 to 2011 after adjusting for inflation, while the number of career firefighters increased 46 percent, according to the report.
Some factors contributing to this increase are:
- Shrinkage of the work week for some departments, which results in a need to increase staffing and apparatus or to pay firefighters at overtime rates.
- Increased EMS responsibilities requiring increased staffing and, in some communities, a more frequent replacement of apparatus.
- Costs of retirement and health benefits continuing to rise as they do for the general population.
