I promised a post on fire departments, and here it is. Fire departments are a necessary government service, and no, they aren’t socialism. Some people wrongly believe that anything the government does is socialism, and they are retards for thinking that.
Whether or not it is worth having a fire department, what kind (volunteer or career), and how much service it will offer is something that is largely dependent on the particulars of each community.
It costs a bit over $2 million per year, per fire station to maintain a career fire department. There need to be enough stations so that all houses are within 5 miles or less of a fire station. A small city of 100,000 people that is about 20 square miles in size will cost you about $10 million a year. For that price, you will get a fire department with an ISO rating of 1, and this will save big money on fire insurance for commercial and industrial structures. A town this size will have 100 or so residential and 3 or 4 commercial/industrial fires per year.
A volunteer department covering 100 homes and a population of 500 or so will cost about $50,000 a year. If they have one or two fires a year, it’s worth it.
The average total fire loss in the US for a fire is about $85,000. (Direct losses about $25,000, the rest indirect losses) If your community is small enough that it only has 1 fire a year on average, it doesn’t make sense to have an expensive paid department.
Any department with an ISO rating over a 4 is spending a large amount of money to defend commercial properties. Residential property and their insurance rates don’t really benefit from a department better than a 4.
So my opinion is this:
An area that is mostly rural with low density doesn’t need much in the way of a department, with the largest benefit being a reduction in insurance rates. A volunteer or part-paid system will likely do well. Still, running such a department costs money, and that will likely mean taxes to pay for at least a portion of it.
A smallish city will benefit from a more expensive department, but the largest beneficiaries will be commercial real estate. In those cases, fire fees for commercial property should be what pays for the more expensive ISO 1 through 3 department.
In many cases, it is cheaper to reimburse those who lose a home than it is to pay big money for a fire department. Paying $5 million a year to a department that puts out less than 30 fires a year is a waste of money. It would be more cost effective for that district to be self insured.
6 Comments
Noway2 · July 22, 2025 at 7:18 am
Interesting, thank you for posting.
I just looked my little towns FD up. One paid with 40 volunteers, covering 82 square miles (we’re rural). They handle about 350 calls per year (my mother was good for a few of those due to cooking mistakes – the smoke detectors are part of the alarm system). ISO class 6 within 5 miles and 9E within 6. Both of our properties are within 5 miles and have water hydrants nearby.
On our one property, we have a pond that’s about an acre in area that stays wet even in a drought. It’s in need of excavation, though. A friend suggested seeing if the FD would clear it out for us in exchange for listing it as an emergency water source.
Henry · July 22, 2025 at 8:33 am
That’s a good analysis and includes info on insurance impact that I hadn’t considered. I’m in a small (pop. 5,000) retirement/vacation community in southeast NC. The town comprises 5 square miles and has two paid fire houses. As of 2022 the fire department had 21 fulltime employees. My annual property tax bill on a modest (2,000 sq. ft.) home, appraised at the median value for the town, includes a line item charge for the fire department – $400.
Due to the nature of the population distribution here the fire department has very, very few actual fire calls and instead has more accident and especially medical calls.
Gerry · July 22, 2025 at 9:15 am
Our local volunteer fire companies spend most of their calls on vehicle accidents. They all run between 370-450 calls a year.
JimmyPx · July 22, 2025 at 9:34 am
I’m all for massively cutting the size of government across the board.
The thing is that an evaluation needs to be done about what services are essential and which are not. In my opinion, most non essential services should be cut but essential services might need an upgrade.
Fire, Police and Rescue are essential services.
If my neighbor’s house catches on fire you want the fire department to put the fire out so that the fire doesn’t spread and burn down your house and your whole neighborhood.
Police are necessary… look at what happened to those cities who did the “defund the police” a few years ago ?
Rescue is critical, if you get in a bad car wreck you want guys trained and with the equipment to get you out of your vehicle and to the hospital. Ditto if your Dad has a heart attack, you want the Paramedics and EMTs to help him and get him to a hospital ASAP.
Anonymous · July 22, 2025 at 9:49 am
Agreed on all you quantified for cost vs benefit. One additional item that is near and dear to me a few others. Addressing the proper prep for grass/timber/wild fires.
In Texas (as well as other spots around the country) what do you think proper prep for community level prep would be best in your opinion.
I know that the first and most important preps are done by the owner and or occupant of the property. This year we have had abundant rainfall and warm but not hot temps. Until last week, now long range progs are going for no rain and 100+ for the foreseeable future.
I have made sure my property is ready, but I see around my area Loads of fuel near houses and when that fuel turns brown it could get bad quickly.
Thanks again for the data on costs and benefits for Fire Dept. outlays, it does make me appreciate our local FD’s and their costs. I believe our small town is about right sized for the cost.
MSG Grumpy
Steve · July 22, 2025 at 9:54 am
I concur on the price points, but regret to inform you that at least in rural and exurbs, because they are going to let your place burn down anyway, there is no reduction in insurance for having a department. The only reduction is in how you maintain your grounds to preserve a fire break.
But you are wrong about socialism. If it is a service people want and will pay for, it does not need government. It’s only services you want, and you want to force other people to pay for it, that government becomes the most “civil” means.