Nationwide Reliance on Volunteer Firefirefighters

Volunteers comprise 72% of firefighters in the United States.

 

Of the total estimated 1,148,850 firefighters across the country, 827,150 are volunteer.  The number of volunteer firefighters in the United States has declined by over 8% since 1984. Communities served by volunteer firefighters depend on them to be their first line of defense for many types of emergencies.  Volunteer firefighters are summoned to a wide array of emergencies across the country every day including fires, emergency medical incidents, terrorist events, natural disasters, hazardous materials incidents, water rescue emergencies, high-angle and confined space emergencies, and other general public service calls. The public relies on the volunteer emergency services to be their first line of defense in these emergencies. Volunteers spend an enormous amount of time training to prepare for these emergencies. The majority of fire departments in the United States are volunteer. Of the total 30,170 fire departments in the country, 21,235 are all volunteer; 4,830 are mostly volunteer; 1,790 are mostly career; and 2,315 are all career.

• Major factors contributing to the decline include increased time demands, more rigorous training requirements, and the proliferation of two-income families whose members do not have time to volunteer. The two greatest sources of increased time demands are increased volume of emergency calls and increased training hours to comply with training standards.

*Source: National Volunteer Fire Council

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