National Fire Department Census Summary

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Department Type
Organization Type
Specialized Services
Number of Departments by State
Department Type by State
Top 25 States for Volunteer/Career Departments

Figure 1

Registered Fire Departments by Region (April 2008)

The National Fire Department Census is a voluntary program and does not include all fire departments in the United States or its territories. As of April 2008, there were 26,016 fire departments registered with the census. This is approximately 85 percent of the departments estimated to be in the United States. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that there were 30,635 fire departments in the United States in 2006.
The fire departments registered with the census represent approximately 47,100 fire stations across the country. Approximately 71 percent of the departments have one station, 16 percent have two stations, and the remaining 13 percent have three or more stations.
The fire departments registered with the census are staffed by approximately 1,168,000 personnel. This figure includes career, volunteer, and paid per call firefighters, civilian staff, and nonfirefighting personnel. Active career, volunteer, and paid per call firefighters represent nearly 88 percent of the registered departments' personnel.
The majority of the registered departments are located in the southern and midwestern States. Figure 1 shows the percentage distribution of fire departments by U.S. Census Bureau Region. Less than one percent of the departments are located in the U.S. Territories.

Note: For counties in Maryland and Virginia where it is known that both the County level fire department registered with the census and the individual fire departments affiliated with that County department also registered, the computation of the number of stations includes only the number of stations reported by the County level department to avoid double counting stations.

Note: There were 150 fire departments that did not provide the number of personnel. For counties in Maryland and Virginia where it is known that both the County level fire department registered with the census and the individual fire departments affiliated with that County department also registered, the computation of the number of personnel includes only the personnel counts reported by the County level department to avoid double counting personnel.

Note: The Regions of the United States are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont); South (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia); Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin); West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming).

Department Type

The department type is based on the NFPA definition (Career: 100 percent of a department’s firefighters are career; Mostly Career: 51-99 percent of a department’s firefighters are career; Mostly Volunteer: 1-50 percent of a department’s firefighters are career; Volunteer: 100 percent of a department’s firefighters are volunteer). Of the fire departments registered with the census,

8% are career
4% are mostly career
16% are mostly volunteer
72% are volunteer

Note: The numbers of fire department personnel are used to determine the department type. There were 150 fire departments that did not provide the number of personnel. These departments were excluded from this analysis.

Organization Type

Approximately 96 percent of the registered departments are local fire departments which include career, combination, and volunteer fire departments and fire districts. The remaining four percent are comprised of State and Federal government fire departments, contract fire departments, private or industrial fire brigades, and transportation authority or airport fire departments.

Specialized Services

Table 1 shows the percentage of registered fire departments that indicated their department provides a particular specialized service. Approximately 73 percent of the departments have vehicle extrication capabilities, and 4 percent provide fireboat services. Of the fire departments that provide fire investigation/fire cause determination services, 14.1 percent have sworn investigators with power to arrest.

Table 1. Percentage of Fire Departments Providing Specialized Services (April 2008)

Specialized Services Provided	Percentage
Vehicle Extrication	72.5
Fire/Injury Prevention/Public Education	57.2
Wildfire/Urban-Wildland Interface	57.2
Basic Life Support	55.6
EMS Non-Transport Response	35.5
Fire Investigation/Fire Cause Determination	33.8
Fire Inspection/Code Enforcement	33.6
Technical/Specialized Rescue	32.2
Departmental (in-house) Training Academy	23.3
EMS Ambulance Transport	20.3
Advanced Life Support	20.1
HAZMAT Team	16.4
Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program	13.4
Airport/Aviation	7.4
Fireboat	3.6

Number of Fire Departments by State

Table 2 shows the number of fire departments registered with the census by State.

Table 2. Number of Registered Fire Departments by State (April 2008)

State	Count
Alabama	783
Alaska	141
Arizona	241
Arkansas	658
California	833
Colorado	321
Connecticut	243
Delaware	57
District of Columbia	3
Florida	458
Georgia	454
Hawaii	11
Idaho	177
Illinois	1065
Indiana	748
Iowa	705
Kansas	463
Kentucky	669
Louisiana	355
Maine	338
Maryland	258
Massachusetts	355
Michigan	934
Minnesota	696
Mississippi	380
Missouri	720
Montana	258
Nebraska	364
Nevada	84
New Hampshire	209
New Jersey	687
New Mexico	237
New York	1604
North Carolina	983
North Dakota	298
Ohio	1125
Oklahoma	700
Oregon	293
Pennsylvania	1774
Rhode Island	74
South Carolina	432
South Dakota	280
Tennessee	593
Texas	1406
Utah	182
Vermont	190
Virginia	507
Washington	403
West Virginia	391
Wisconsin	762
Wyoming	104
U.S. Territories	10

Department Type by State

Table 3 shows the percentage of fire departments registered with the census by department type within State. The department type is based on NFPA definitions.

Table 3. Percentage of Registered Fire Departments by Department Type Within State (April 2008)

State	Volunteer	Mostly Volunteer	Mostly Career	Career
Alabama	82.4	7.9	2.8	6.9
Alaska	58.3	30.2	0.7	10.8
Arizona	33.2	29.8	17.2	19.7
Arkansas	86.7	6.9	3.2	3.2
California	30.1	31.6	15.4	22.9
Colorado	52.6	30.5	7.2	9.7
Connecticut	62.0	23.1	4.1	10.7
Delaware	50.9	47.4	0.0	1.8
District of Columbia	0.0	0.0	33.3	66.7
Florida	35.1	15.4	17.3	32.2
Georgia	52.7	26.4	6.9	14.0
Hawaii	9.1	9.1	9.1	72.7
Idaho	63.4	27.4	3.4	5.7
Illinois	67.4	15.5	6.1	11.1
Indiana	75.4	13.1	3.1	8.4
Iowa	90.6	5.4	0.6	3.4
Kansas	78.4	10.8	5.0	5.8
Kentucky	76.8	15.1	3.5	4.7
Louisiana	56.1	31.5	3.9	8.5
Maine	75.4	20.7	1.8	2.1
Maryland	63.3	25.4	4.3	7.0
Massachusetts	27.4	29.7	18.1	24.9
Michigan	65.3	21.1	4.2	9.3
Minnesota	88.0	9.3	0.9	1.9
Mississippi	70.8	15.8	4.2	9.2
Missouri	72.2	13.9	4.6	9.2
Montana	86.4	8.1	1.2	4.3
Nebraska	92.2	4.4	1.4	1.9
Nevada	54.9	26.8	6.1	12.2
New Hampshire	57.2	31.7	7.2	3.8
New Jersey	76.0	13.2	3.4	7.5
New Mexico	80.5	8.9	4.2	6.4
New York	89.9	4.7	1.1	4.3
North Carolina	64.7	27.2	3.7	4.4
North Dakota	92.6	4.4	0.0	3.0
Ohio	61.6	21.6	5.5	11.3
Oklahoma	82.0	9.4	2.3	6.3
Oregon	43.7	46.1	4.4	5.8
Pennsylvania	90.0	7.0	0.5	2.5
Rhode Island	34.2	24.7	13.7	27.4
South Carolina	58.1	26.5	8.9	6.6
South Dakota	93.2	3.6	0.4	2.9
Tennessee	75.1	13.2	5.8	5.9
Texas	73.5	13.3	4.3	8.9
Utah	69.3	18.4	4.5	7.8
Vermont	90.5	6.9	1.6	1.1
Virginia	75.1	14.7	3.4	6.8
Washington	44.3	37.3	8.3	10.3
West Virginia	90.9	4.9	1.0	3.1
Wisconsin	81.0	11.8	1.7	5.6
Wyoming	73.1	14.4	1.0	11.5
U.S. Territories	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.8
Total	71.9	15.8	4.4	7.9

Note: State totals may not add to 100 due to rounding.