Reports are free to NFPA members. For additional information or assistance, e-mail Paula Levesque or call +1 617 984-7443.
A Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service
NFPA has conducted a series of national surveys (2011, 2007, and 2004) to identify the needs of the fire service for resources required to safely and effectively carry out their responsibilities. The surveys indicated the resources fire departments had, while NFPA codes and standards and other national guidance documents defined the requirements. The gaps between resources in hand and resources required defined the needs.
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States 2012
Rita F. Fahy, Paul R. LeBlanc and Joseph L. Molis, June 2013
Overall statistics on line-of-duty firefighter fatalities in 2012, including non-incident-related deaths. Includes patterns, trends, career vs. volunteer comparisons, and brief narratives on selected incidents.
An Analysis of Volunteer Firefighter Injuries, 2009-2011
Michael J. Karter, Jr., January 2013
An analysis of volunteer firefighter injuries comparing their experience to all firefighter injuries.
Firefighter Injuries in the United States
Michael J. Karter, Jr. & Joseph L. Molis, October 2012
The report includes statistics on line-of-duty firefighter injuries in 2011 from NFPA’s survey of fire departments – including non-incident-related injuries, trends, and brief narratives on selected incidents.
False Alarm Activity in the U.S. 2011
Michael J. Karter, Jr., October 2012
An in-depth report on false alarm activity and includes a table on fire department calls by type of call. In 2011, U.S. fire departments responded to 2,383,000 false alarms.
U.S. Fire Department Profile
Michael J. Karter and Gary P. Stein, October 2012
This report includes statistics through 2011 on the numbers and characteristics of U.S. of fire departments and firefighters. It also includes information on the number of fire stations, pumpers and ladders nationwide, rates of usage of such equipment by community size, and total national direct expenditures on local fire protection.
Patterns of Firefighter Fireground Injuries
Michael J. Karter, January 2012
Includes 2005-2009 annual average estimates of injuries by such factors as type of injury, type of activity at time of injury, cause of injury by level of severity, occupancy where injury occurred, time of day and ages of injured firefighters.
U.S. Firefighter Deaths Related to Training, 2001-2010
Rita F. Fahy, January 2012
Training is a vital part of fire department operations, but it too often results in unnecessary deaths and injuries. Between 2001-2010, 108 firefighters died while engaged in training-related activities (11.3 percent of all on-duty firefighter deaths in those years, not including the 340 deaths at the World Trade Center in 2001).
Fire Departments in Canada, 2008-2010
Michael J. Karter, Jr. and Gary P. Stein, November 2011
The NFPA has been collecting data on fire departments in Canada for several years. This report includes results on career and volunteer fire firefighters per 1,000 people protected, department type, stations and apparatus rates per 1,000 people, and whether EMS is provided. Most of the results are broken down by size of community protected.
Unwanted Fire Alarms
April 2011
This report, prepared for the International Association of Fire Chief’s May 2011 Fire Alarm Response and Management Summit, contains estimates of fire department responses to false alarms, public experience with unwanted fire alarms, causes of these alarms, and possible policies to address them.
Fire Service Performance Measures
Jennifer D. Flynn, November 2009
This report identifies and presents potential performance measures as they relate to the core functions of the fire department.