Firefighting in the United States

As of 2014, there are around 1,134,400 firefighters serving in 27,198 fire departments nationwide and responding to emergencies from 58,150 fire stations. Of those firefighters, 31% or 346,150 were career firefighters and 69% or 788,250 were volunteers.

A Fire department responds to a fire every 23 seconds throughout the United States. Fire departments responded to 33,602,500 calls for service in 2015. 21,500,000 were for medical help, 2,533,500 were false alarms, and 1,345,500 were for actual fires.

Since at least 1980, calls for fires have decreased as a proportion of total calls and in absolute numbers from 3,000,000 to 1,400,000 in 2011, while in the same period medical calls have increased from 5,000,000 to 19,800,000.

The professionalization of American firefighting was largely a result of three factors: the steam fire engines, the fire insurance companies, that demanded the municipalization of firefighting, and the theory that suggested payment of wages would naturally result in improved service. Paid firefighters may be union or non-union. Union American firefighters are represented and united in the International Association of Fire Fighters with headquarters in Washington, D.C. However, many municipalities still rely on volunteer, paid on call, or part-time firefighters. These non full-time firefighters are rarely union, and their interests are represented by the National Volunteer Fire Council.

The United States Fire Administration provides national leadership to local fire services. The fire departments report fires and other incidents according to the National Fire Incident Reporting System, which maintains records of the incidents in a uniform manner. The National Fire Protection Association sets and maintains minimum standards and requirements for firefighting duties and equipment. The suppression of wildfires is regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is done through the National Wildland Coordination Center.

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