Topical Fire Report Series Volume 7, Issue 4 / December 2007

Fire Department Overall Run Profile

These short topical reports are designed to 

explore facets of the U.S. fire problem as 

depicted through data collected in USFA’s 

National Fire Incident Reporting System 

(NFIRS). Each topical report briefly addresses 

the nature of the specific fire or fire-related 

topic, highlights important findings from 

the data, and may suggest other resources 

to consider for further information.

Findings:

■ Less than 10% of fire department runs are fires.

■ Over half of calls to fire departments require emergency medical service.

■ Approximately 11% of runs involve mutual or automatic aid.

■ Wireless telecommunication technologies create challenges for emergency dispatchers.

Fire departments provide invaluable services to communities nationwide. They respond to all types of emergency 

situations involving fires, explosions, rescues and medical 

emergencies, hazardous conditions, natural disasters, and 

false alarms. They also respond to nonemergency service calls 

and good intent calls. Often what is described to dispatchers 

does not reflect the actual incident; nevertheless, fire departments are trained and prepared to respond to a broad array of 

situations. To understand the full role fire departments play in 

a community, this topical report profiles fire department run 

activity as reflected in the National Fire Incident Reporting 

System (NFIRS) 2004 data.1,2

While “fire” is part of the department name, less than 10% 

of runs made by fire departments actually involve fire, as 

shown in Figure 1.Over half (55%) of all fire department 

runs are categorized as emergency medical services (EMS) 

and rescue. False alarms (12%) and good intent calls (10%) 

are the second and third most prevalent runs; actual fire 

runs are fourth at 8%. 

Figure 1. Fire Department Overall Runs by Incident Type 

(percent of runs, 2004)

Source: 2004 NFIRS 5.0 data 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security • U.S. Fire Administration

National Fire Data Center • Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727

www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/reports/index.shtm

continued on next page
TFRS Volume 7, Issue 4/ Fire Department Overall Fire Run Profile Page 2

Emergency Calls

The official national emergency number is 9-1-1. 

Emergency calls are placed to Public Safety Answering Points 

(PSAP), typically city or county controlled, where a trained 

dispatcher is ready to route the call to local emergency medical, fire, and police services. PSAPs determine the location 

of calls by cross-referencing the telephone number against 

a location database.3

 However, new technology involving 

wireless telephones and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) 

services such as cell phones and Internet connections (i.e., 

DSL, dial, and cable modems), make determining where the 

call is coming from more complex because the call is not 

associated with a fixed location. This can delay emergency 

response times. 

In rural and remote areas, emergency calls connect directly 

to local fire stations. Presently, more and more rural area residences are in the process of establishing precise addresses 

for future PSAP capabilities.4

Hourly, Monthly, and Seasonal Profile 

of Runs

Fire departments respond to incidents every day, at all times 

of the day. The demand for fire department services is relatively constant during the late morning and early evening. 

Peak demand is in the late afternoon, as shown in Figure 

2. Each type of run has its own characteristic daily profile, 

as shown in Figure 3. All runs are lowest in the very early 

morning hours and increase during the morning as activities begin. Most run types reach near-peak demand in midmorning and remain relatively constant, with peak hours 

occurring in mid to late afternoon until early evening. Fire 

and severe weather runs are notable exceptions. Fire runs 

increase slowly but steadily during the day, peak during the 

dinner hour, and then steadily decrease. Severe weather runs 

have below-average demand until midafternoon, increase 

sharply through midevening, then decrease sharply during 

the late evening hours.

Figure 2. Fire Department Overall Runs by Time of Day 

(percent of runs, 2004)

continued on next page

Source: 2004 NFIRS 5.0 data 
TFRS Volume 7, Issue 4/ Fire Department Overall Fire Run Profile Page 3

Figure 3. Fire Department Overall Runs by Time of Day 

(percent of runs, 2004)

Source: 2004 NFIRS 5.0 data 

The average occurrence of runs on a monthly basis is 

relatively constant. Consistent with the Fourth of July and 

winter holidays, there is a slight increase in runs during 

July and December (Figure 4). Seasonally, EMS responses are 

the most prevalent fire department responses, as shown in 

Figure 5.5

 Although very small in number, severe weather 

and natural disaster runs are more prevalent during the 

spring and summer.

Figure 4. Fire Department Overall Runs by Month

(percent of runs, 2004)

Source: 2004 NFIRS 5.0 data continued on next page
TFRS Volume 7, Issue 4/ Fire Department Overall Fire Run Profile Page 4

Figure 5. Seasonal Distribution of Fire Department Overall Runs

(percent of runs, 2004)

Source: 2004 NFIRS 5.0 data 

Regional Fires

For all regions, most calls to fire departments require EMS 

and rescue services.6 The Western region has the highest 

percentage of EMS and rescue runs at 64%; the Northeast 

region has the lowest percentage at 40% (Figure 6). A 

number of fire departments in the Northeast still limit their 

role to traditional fire suppression services and have taken 

on EMS roles only recently. This may explain the disparity 

between the percentages of EMS runs in the Northeast and 

the rest of the Nation.7

 Special incidents, such as citizen 

complaints, represent 6% of all runs in the Northeast, 

which is the highest of all the regions. False alarm calls 

also were highest in the Northeast (17%), followed by the 

Midwestern (11%) and Southern (10%) regions.

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TFRS Volume 7, Issue 4/ Fire Department Overall Fire Run Profile Page 5

Figure 6. Regional Distribution of Fire Department Overall Runs 

(percent of runs, 2004)

Source: NFIRS 5.0 data 

Property Distribution

Most calls involve residential properties (51%) followed 

by outside or special properties, as shown in Figure 7. 

Generally, 64% of all calls to residences require EMS and 

rescue services. False alarms account for 10% of calls to residences. Only 6% of calls to residences relate to fire. 

continued on next page
TFRS Volume 7, Issue 4/ Fire Department Overall Fire Run Profile Page 6

Figure 7. Fire Department Overall Runs by Property Type 

(percent of runs, 2004)

Source: 2004 NFIRS 5.0 data 

Aid

Aid offers additional resources to fire departments for largescale or specialized incidents or when response time to an 

incident is faster by another jurisdiction. Aid is either given or 

received, either automatically or mutually, for a specific incident. Automatic aid involves prearranged agreements according to hazard conditions, jurisdictions, or incidents requiring 

special equipment. Mutual aid generally is requested on a 

reactive basis as resources are depleted at the incident. 

Informal and formal aid relationships vary, depending on 

the location or the type of the incident. Innovative aid 

relationships, which focus on improving the allocation of 

resources and response times, continue to augment the 

advancement of fire department services. Eleven percent of 

fire department runs involve giving or receiving aid, either 

mutual or automatic.

Small rural areas generally follow informal agreements, 

where it is understood that large- scale incidents will require 

all available resources from several community fire departments, and that each department sustains its own resources 

when providing aid. However, informal relationships in rural 

areas are giving way to more formal relationships between 

jurisdictions as rural areas experience huge growth and do 

not have the resources to meet the fire demands that increasingly point toward “metropolitan risk” levels.8

Formal aid relationships provide better access to resources. 

Many local jurisdictions and States maintain exemplary aid 

systems. The key issues facing aid agreements deal with liability and reimbursement. Resolving these issues results in 

better fire services. The Emergency Management Assistance 

Compact (EMAC) and Urban Search-and-Rescue (USAR) 

teams have greatly improved the ability to overcome these 

issues and move resources from State to State. A national aid 

and resource system initiative is in development to manage 

greater threats facing the United States, including terrorism 

and natural disasters.9

Types of Aid

While about 90% of fire department runs are not aidrelated, the level of aid runs varies with the type of incident. Fire, good-intent call, and explosion or overpressure 

rupture incidents involve aid runs more often than other 

types of incidents (Table 1). A more detailed analysis of aid 

relationships and resulting runs is necessary to draw definitive conclusions on the use and frequency of aid.

continued on next page
TFRS Volume 7, Issue 4/ Fire Department Overall Fire Run Profile Page 7

Table 1. Fire Department Overall Runs by General Type of Aid

(percent of incidents, 2004)

Run Type

Aid

No Aid Total

Aid Received Aid Given Total

Fire 9.7% 16.0% 25.7% 74.3% 100.0%

Overpressure, Rupture, Explosion, Overheat (No Fire) 7.1% 5.9% 13.0% 87.0% 100.0%

EMS and Rescue 3.3% 4.7% 8.0% 92.0% 100.0%

Hazardous Conditions 4.0% 4.4% 8.4% 91.6% 100.0%

Service Call 1.8% 9.6% 11.4% 88.6% 100.0%

Good-Intent Call 2.9% 12.2% 15.1% 84.9% 100.0%

False Alarm and False Call 4.7% 4.5% 9.2% 90.8% 100.0%

Severe Weather and Natural Disaster 4.6% 6.7% 11.3% 88.7% 100.0%

Special Incident 2.1% 2.5% 4.5% 95.5% 100.0%

OVERALL 3.9% 6.7% 10.5% 89.5% 100.0%

Source: 2004 NFIRS 5.0 data 

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding

Conclusion

When a call comes to 9-1-1 for emergency assistance, a 

trained PSAP dispatcher will locate the call from a location database and route the call to the appropriate local 

emergency medical, fire, and police services. However, new 

communication technologies such as wireless telephones 

and voice-over-Internet protocols make determining a call’s 

location challenging, because the call is not associated with 

a fixed location. If a call is made from a cell phone or an 

Internet connection, make sure to give the exact location of 

the emergency to the 9-1-1 dispatcher and call back if the 

call is dropped or disconnected.

Some emergencies exceed local area resources requiring 

mutual aid from other jurisdictions. Formalized aid agreements help manage resource and fire service demand. A 

national mutual aid and resource management initiative 

stems from recent devastating incidents involving natural 

disasters and terrorist acts. 

To request additional information or to comment on this report, visit 

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/applications/feedback/
TFRS Volume 7, Issue 4/ Fire Department Overall Fire Run Profile Page 8

Notes: 

1NFIRS 5.0 contains both converted NFIRS 4.1 data and native 

NFIRS 5.0 data. This topical report includes only native 5.0 data. 

Incident type 110 (structure fire, other) is not included in this 

analysis as it is a “conversion only” code. That is, incident type 

110 is technically a version 4.1 incident and, as such, is not 

included in this analysis. Aid runs, usually excluded in incidentbased analyses, are included in the data for this report.

2 “Runs” or “calls” have different meanings for different fire 

departments. As NFIRS incident data reflect summary data from 

individual fire departments (not from individual fire stations in 

a fire department), a “run” or “call” as used in this topical report 

means the fire department’s collective response to an incident. 

“Runs” and “calls” are used interchangeably.

3 “Communicating During Emergencies,” Federal Communications 

Commission, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, http://

www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/emergencies.html

4 Idaho County, “Rural Addressing,” http://www.idahocounty.org/

idaho/commissioners/rural_addressing.htm

5

Winter is defined as January–March; spring is defined as April–

June; summer is defined as July–September; fall is defined as 

October-December.

6

 The regions of the United States are defined by the U.S. Census 

Bureau as the Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, 

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode 

Island, Vermont); South (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District 

of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, 

Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, 

Texas, Virginia, West Virginia); Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 

Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, 

Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin); West (Alaska, Arizona, California, 

Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, 

Utah, Washington, Wyoming).

7

 Discussions with Dr. Harold Cohen, former EMS officer and 

current Sr. Analyst at the TriData Division of System Planning 

Corporation.

8

 Discussions with Mr. Patrick Simpson, former Fire Chief and 

current Sr. Analyst at the TriData Division of System Planning 

Corporation.

9

 FEMA, “National Mutual Aid and Resource Management Initiative 

Frequently Asked Questions,” http://www.scd.state.hi.us/NIMS/

FAQ_6_09_04.doc