America’s volunteer fire service, comprising 745,000 firefighters serving in 26,686 fire departments across the nation, faces significant challenges. Aging fire station infrastructure, staffing, and equipment and apparatus replacement are among the most acute problems facing America’s fire service in general, and volunteers in particular.
Forty-three percent of fire stations in the United States are at least 40 years old, with an estimated $70 billion to 100 billion cost to replace. Most of the fire stations more than 40 years old are in smaller communities that are typically served by volunteer responders. Sixty-one percent of fire stations in communities with populations of 9,999 or fewer residents are more than 40 years old with an estimated total replacement cost of $42.5 billion. Read More…