News & Research

The fire service

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Download NFPA's "The United States Fire Service" (PDF, 344 KB) fact sheet.

1,134,400 firefighters protected the United States in 2014. 346,150 (31%) were career firefighters and 788,250 (69%) were volunteer firefighters.
Most career firefighters (70%) 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 were 68 firefighter deaths in 2015. The largest share of deaths occurred at fire scenes (24 deaths). As in most years, sudden cardiac death accounted for the largest share of the on-duty deaths (35 deaths, or 51 percent).
There were 63,350 firefighter injuries in 2014.
27,015 of all firefighter injuries in 2014 occurred during fireground operations. Other firefighter injuries by type of duty include: responding to, or returning from an incident (4,165); training (6,880); non-fire emergency (14,595); and other on-duty activities (10,695).

In This Section

Administration Needs assessment; Fire service performance measures; U.S. fire department profile; and more.
Fatalities and injuries Firefighter fatalities; firefighter injuries; patterns of fireground injuries; firefighter deaths related to training; and more.
Fire department calls Fire alarm activity; unwanted fire alarms; calls by type
Older versions of reports Older reports on firefighter fatalities and firefighter injuries.

NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, 2014 Edition

The 2014 NFPA 921 guides you through every step of the investigation process, from basic methodology to collecting evidence to failure analysis. It's is the field's #1 guide to safe, systematic fire and explosion investigation.

Item #: NFPA_921

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