Volunteer Fire Departments

INTERESTING FACTS

Volunteer fire fighters comprise 73% of fire fighters in the United States.
Of the total estimated 1,096,250 volunteer and paid fire fighters across the country, 800,050 are volunteer fire fighters.
Seventy six (76) of the one hundred and seven (107) fire fighters who died in the line of duty in 2004 were volunteer fire fighters.
The public relies on the volunteer fire fighters to be their first line of defense in emergencies.
Volunteers spend an enormous amount of time training to prepare for these emergencies.
Of the total 30,542 fire departments in the country, 21,671 are all volunteers; 5,271 are mostly volunteer.
Services contributed by volunteer fire fighters save localities across the country an estimated $37.2 billion per year.
The cost to train and equip a fire fighter is approximately $7,400.
The United States has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world at 13.5 deaths per million population.
Fires have killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined.

WEST VIRGINIA VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS

The volunteer and part volunteer fire fighters in West Virginia are to be commended for the time and service they give to their communities. In order to provide the fire fighting equipment, training, and maintain the fire departments in West Virginia, additional revenue has been allocated from a 0.55% surcharge imposed on fire and casualty insurance policies issued in West Virginia. All of the funds collected from this surcharge go to Volunteer Fire Departments.

An additional 1% was allocated to be levied on fire and casualty insurance policies. These funds are collected by the Insurance Commissioner and transferred to the State Treasurer's Office for distribution. Twenty-five (25%) of this 1% surcharge goes to the Volunteer Fire Departments.