The U.S. fire service

Firefighting and fire prevention occupations* by women and race
See statistics for firefighting occupations only.

Year	Total	Women	Black	Hispanic origin
1983	189,000	1,900 (1.0%)	12,700 (6.7%)	7,700 (4.1%)
1984	185,000	1,300 (0.7%)	9,800 (5.3%)	5,200 (2.8%)
1985	209,000	2,900 (1.4%)	12,300 (5.9%)	7,700 (3.7%)
1986	218,000	4,800 (2.2%)	15,900 (7.3%)	9,800 (4.5%)
1987	221,000	4,400 (2.0%)	16,400 (7.4%)	11,700 (5.3%)
1988	218,000	6,300 (2.9%)	18,100 (8.3%)	12,600 (5.8%)
1989	208,000	8,100 (3.9%)	24,300 (11.7%)	8,300 (4.0%)
1990	220,000	5,300 (2.4%)	24,200 (11.0%)	9,700 (4.4%)
1991	220,000	5,100 (2.3%)	18,900 (8.6%)	9,700 (4.4%)
1992	205,000	7,000 (3.4%)	13,000 (6.3%)	8,000 (3.9%)
1993	208,000	7,700 (3.7%)	15,800 (7.6%)	9,400 (4.5%)
1994	210,000	4,000 (1.9%)	20,000 (9.5%)	12,000 (5.7%)
1995	249,000	7,000 (2.8%)	38,000 (15.3%)	13,000 (5.2%)
1996	231,000	5,000 (2.2%)	31,000 (13.4%)	13,000 (5.6%)
1997	233,000	8,000 (3.4%)	28,000 (12.0%)	13,000 (5.6%)
1998	250,000	6,000 (2.4%)	27,000 (10.8%)	13,000 (5.2%)
1999	241,000	7,000 (2.9%)	26,000 (10.8%)	16,000 (6.6%)
2000	248,000	9,000 (3.6%)	22,000 (8.9%)	13,000 (5.2%)
2001	264,000	11,000 (4.2%)	32,000 (12.1%)	21,000 (8.0%)
2002	262,000	11,000 (4.2%)	25,000 (9.5%)	24,000 (9.2%)
2003	279,000	11,000 (3.9%)	23,000 (8.2%)	16,000 (5.7%)
2004	291,000	15,000 (5.2%)	23,000 (7.9%)	24,000 (8.3%)
2005	258,000	10,000 (3.9%)	27,000 (10.5%)	20,000 (7.8%)
2006	274,000	11,000 (4.0%)	29,000 (10.6%)	21,000 (7.7%)
2007	304,000	16,000 (5.3%)	32,000 (10.5%)	19,000 (6.3%)
Annual Average 2003-2007	281,200	12,600 (4.5%)	26,800 (9.5%)	20,000 (7.1%)

Firefighting occupations* (only) by women and race

Year	Total	Women	Black	Hispanic origin
1983	170,000	1,700 (1.0%)	12,400 (7.3%)	6,500 (3.8%)
1984	168,000	200 (0.1%)	8,400 (5.0%)	4,700 (2.8%)
1985	186,000	1,500 (0.8%)	11,300 (6.1%)	6,100 (3.3%)
1986	205,000	3,900 (1.9%)	16,000 (7.8%)	9,000 (4.4%)
1987	204,000	1,800 (0.9%)	15,700 (7.7%)	10,800 (5.3%)
1988	195,000	4,100 (2.1%)	16,800 (8.6%)	12,500 (6.4%)
1989	188,000	6,600 (3.5%)	22,600 (12.0%)	8,300 (4.4%)
1990	205,000	4,900 (2.4%)	22,600 (11.0%)	9,000 (4.4%)
1991	200,000	2,800 (1.4%)	17,800 (8.9%)	9,400 (4.7%)
1992	190,000	4,000 (2.1%)	12,000 (6.3%)	7,000 (3.7%)
1993	188,000	6,200 (3.3%)	14,100 (7.5%)	9,400 (5.0%)
1994	195,000	4,000 (2.1%)	18,000 (9.2%)	11,000 (5.6%)
1995	237,000	6,000 (2.5%)	36,000 (15.2%)	11,000 (4.6%)
1996	217,000	4,000 (1.8%)	30,000 (13.8%)	11,000 (5.1%)
1997	218,000	7,000 (3.2%)	27,000 (12.4%)	10,000 (4.6%)
1998	228,000	5,000 (2.2%)	27,000 (11.8%)	9,000 (3.9%)
1999	223,000	4,000 (1.8%)	25,000 (11.2%)	12,000 (5.4%)
2000	233,000	7,000 (3.0%)	21,000 (9.0%)	12,000 (5.2%)
2001	250,000	7,000 (2.8%)	32,000 (12.8%)	21,000 (8.4%)
2002	248,000	8,000 (3.3%)	24,000 (9.6%)	23,000 (9.3%)
2003	258,000	9,000 (3.4%)	21,000 (8.1%)	16,000 (6.2%)
2004	268,000	14,000 (5.2%)	22,000 (8.2%)	23,000 (8.6%)
2005	243,000	8,000 (3.3%)	26,000 (10.7%)	19,000 (7.8%)
2006	253,000	9,000 (3.6%)	25,000 (9.9%)	19,000 (7.5%)
2007	288,000	15,000 (5.2%)	29,000 (10.1%)	18,000 (6.3%)
Annual Average 2003-2007	262,000	11,000 (4.2%)	24,600 (9.4%)	19,000 (7.3%)

* Includes only career firefighters. Excludes administrators, managers and volunteer firefighters.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Household Data Survey. Numbers of firefighters are based on a sample of U.S. households. It appears that the percentage changes are not significant. Contact the Bureau of Labor Statistics for specifics on its survey methodology. These numbers can change considerably from year to year because of their small size and sample variability.
Update: 12/08

			Firefighters and fire departments

			Fire department calls

			Firefighting and fire prevention occupations by women and race

			Firefighter activities, injuries, and deaths

			Firefighter injuries by type of duty

			Firefighter fireground injuries by nature of injury

			Firefighter deaths

			Firefighter deaths by type of duty

			Firefighter deaths by cause and nature of injury