Report: Fire Department Roadway Incidents
Authors: Marty Ahrens and Ben Evarts
Issued: December 2021
Using data from the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and NFPA’s fire department experience survey, this analysis provides more details on the type of incidents on these properties.
Key findings
- In 2018, local fire departments in the U.S. responded to an estimated 5,282,000 incidents on roadway properties, including parking lots and driveways.
- Fourteen percent of the 36.7 million fire department responses in 2018 were to roadway properties.
- Two thirds (68 percent) of fire department roadway incidents were emergency medical services (EMS) calls or rescues.
- Eleven percent of the calls were good intent calls, 8 percent were non-fire hazardous conditions, 6 percent were service calls, and fires accounted for 5 percent.
- More than one-quarter (27 percent) of roadway incidents occurred on highways or divided highways.
