According to statistics from the National Fire Protection Association and the United States Fire Administration, from 1995 to 2010:
- The number of residential building fires fell 15%.
- The number of deaths and injuries in residential fires fell 31%. [i] [ii]
- The number of paid firefighters increased by 30% and the number of volunteer firefighters decreased by 8%.[iii]
With the increase in dependence on paid staff, there has been an increase in cost for the fire service. From 1995 to 2008, the cost of Local Fire Protection has increased 65% to an inflation adjusted $39.7 billion.[iv] Read more »