[quote=davelj]
That makes sense but if 73% of all fire fighters are indeed volunteers and we know that a huge proportion of the total population in the U.S. is in urban areas, then there must be a lot of volunteers in some major metropolitan areas as well. I agree that the rural model doesn’t translate perfectly to the urban model, but clearly a lot of folks are willing to do this work on a very part-time basis for free. In my view, we should figure out how to use these folks.[/quote]
I could be wrong, but I think you’ve just nailed one of the biggest reasons why 73% of firefighters are volunteers. If each part-time FF is considered a “volunteer,” then it makes sense that more firefighters are volunteers vs professionals. Many of them might work for a day or two a month (maybe more, maybe less), so you need far more of them to get the same coverage. The professional departments would have fewer firefighters because everyone is full-time. Just guessing this, but your post actually made me realize this is a big reason for the population difference between volunteer and professional departments.
Trying to clarify it a bit: it’s possible that 73% of the firefighters are covering only 10-20% (or less) of the calls. I don’t know this, though. Will try to find numbers.
Still trying to find something definitive, and will post it if/when I find it.
