Economics and the effects on the Fire Service

Fire Service Current Statistics

1,148,800 firefighters protected the United States in 2007. 323,350 (28%) were career firefighters and 825,450 (72%) were volunteer firefighters. Most career firefighters (74%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people. Most volunteer firefighters (95%) 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 30,185 fire departments in the United States. These fire departments have an estimated 51,950 fire stations, 68,050 pumpers, 6,750 aerial apparatus and 74,350 other suppression vehicles. (Grant, 36-50)

Medical aid calls have tripled since 1980. A fire department responds to a fire every 20 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. 2007, there were an estimated 14,650 collisions involving fire department emergency vehicles, while departments were responding to or returning from incidents.

There were 103 firefighter deaths in 2007. Exertion and stress, which usually results in heart attacks or other sudden cardiac events, continue to be the leading cause of fatal injury. Of the 41 stress-related deaths in 2007, 39 were classified as sudden cardiac deaths. Fireground operations accounted for 36 deaths. Residential structure fires accounted for the largest share of fireground deaths (17 deaths). 27 firefighters died in vehicle crashes, while one other firefighter was struck and killed by a vehicle. Two firefighters died in 2007 in crashes while responding to false alarms. (Grant, 36-50)

There were 80,100 firefighter injuries in 2007. 38,340 of all firefighter injuries in 2007 occurred during fireground operations. Other firefighter injuries by type of duty include: responding to, or returning from an incident (4,925); training (7,735); non-fire emergency (15,435); and other on-duty activities (13,665). The major types of injuries received during fireground operations were: strain, sprain; muscular pain; wound, cut, bleeding, bruise; burns; and smoke or gas inhalation.

Fall, slip, jump (27.3% and overexertion, strain (24.4%) were the leading causes of fireground injuries. Regionally, the Northeast had the highest fireground injury rate with 4.9 injuries occurring per 100 fires; this was more than twice the rate for the rest of country.

Fire Department History

The first fire company was established in 1877 in the city of Berkeley with a hose reel and hand pump kept in a shack near the riverside. With the raise of the population of Berkeley in the coming years because of the migrations the requirement of an enduring specialized fire department had become evident. In September of 1904, an incident took place as a result of which the City Hall burnt and destroyed by fire. A permanent fire department was formed without delay in next month and one of the early volunteer leaders, James Kenney was nominated as the first fire chief who expired in 1916 as a result of injuries sustained while fighting a fire at the El Dorado Oil Works.

The fire department enlarged by the year 1910 and was raised to a team of ...