The U.S. fire service

• 1,100,450 firefighters protected the United States in 2011. 344,050  (31%) were career firefighters and 756,0400 (69%) were volunteer firefighters.
• Most career firefighters (73%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people.
• Most volunteer firefighters (94%) are in departments that protect fewer than 25,000 and more than half are located in small, rural departments that protect fewer than 2,500 people.
• There are an estimated 30,145 fire departments in the United States. These fire departments have an estimated 55,400 fire stations, 67,000 pumpers, 6,900 aerial apparatus and 73,800 other suppression vehicles.
• Two-thirds (66%) of fire department responses were medical calls in 2011.
• A fire department responds to a fire every 23 seconds.
• Departments protecting larger communities tend to have a higher proportion of firefighters in the age groups 30-39 and 40-49 than smaller communities.
• In 2011, there were an estimated 14,850 collisions involving fire department emergency vehicles, while departments were responding to or returning from incidents.

• There were 64 firefighter deaths in 2012.
• Stress, exertion, and other medical-related issues, which usually result in heart attacks or other sudden cardiac events, almost always account for the largest share of deaths in any given year. Of the 32 exertion- or medical-related fatalities in 2012, 27 were classified as sudden cardiac deaths, three strokes and one heat stroke.
• Fireground operations accounted for 21 deaths.
• Wildland structure fires accounted for the largest share of fireground deaths (8 deaths).
• Residential structure fires accounted for half of the 12 structure fire deaths (6 deaths).
• Sixteen firefighters died in 12 vehicle crashes. In addition to those deaths, three other firefighters were struck and killed by vehicles and one firefighter fell from the back step of a tanker.

• There were 70,090 firefighter injuries in 2011.
• 30,505 of all firefighter injuries in 2011 occurred during fireground operations. Other firefighter injuries by type of duty include: responding to, or returning from an incident (3,870); training (7,515); non-fire emergency (14,905); and other on-duty activities (13,295).
• The major types of injuries received during fireground operations were: strain, sprain; muscular pain; wound, cut, bleeding, bruise; and thermal stress.
• The leading causes of fireground injuries were overexertion, strain (28.4%) and fall, slip, jump (21.0%).
• Regionally, the Northeast had the highest fireground injury rate.

• U.S. Fire Department Profile through 2011, by Michael J. Karter, Jr.
• Fire Loss in the United States during 2011, by Michael J. Karter, Jr.
• Firefighter Fatalities in the United States - 2012, by Rita F. Fahy, Paul R. LeBlanc and Joseph L. Molis, (firefighter fatality figures have been updated since publication)
• U.S. Firefighter Injuries 2011, by Michael J. Karter, Jr., and Joseph L. Molis

See more detailed trend information about the U.S. fire service on the pages below.