North Carolina Fire Department Personnel

Personnel (fire department membership) numbers vary by region, by state and even by county. Recruiting is critical to fire department success, see National Volunteer Fire Council’s Make Me a Firefighter and National Volunteer Fire Council’s Recruiting Resources. Check out how your department’s numbers compare to those around you, to see how your recruitment and retention investments are fairing.

This information is based solely upon fire departments that have registered with the National Fire Service Registry. If you have not registered your fire department, please do so, it is free and contributes to a complete picture of the fire services. Check out some Quick Facts from the registry.

Department Type

NOTE: In the USFA National Fire Service Registry data for North Carolina there are 13 departments NOT classified, and so NOT included in these statistics. Departments should register as Career, Mostly Career, Volunteer or Mostly Volunteer but we do not have it for these 13 departments .

Volunteer Departments of North Carolina

Here are the average numbers of volunteer firefighters for each county within North Carolina, as well as the maximum and minimum numbers for that county.

County	# Volunteer Departments	Average Firefighters	Highest #	Lowest #
Alamance	11	42	74	27
Alexander	5	36	51	26
Alleghany	5	24	29	20
Anson	5	35	50	25
Ashe	8	27	36	15
Avery	11	31	39	21
Beaufort	10	31	44	25
Bertie	9	27	36	20
Bladen	11	27	46	20
Brunswick	15	33	47	18
Buncombe	10	37	58	29
Burke	15	32	58	18
Cabarrus	9	38	70	22
Caldwell	13	34	45	22
Camden	2	34	45	23
Carteret	16	37	84	22
Caswell	8	29	41	25
Catawba	11	39	55	25
Chatham	7	40	55	29
Cherokee	13	29	44	18
Chowan	2	32	34	30
Clay	4	29	34	25
Cleveland	14	34	46	22
Columbus	14	32	42	24
Craven	11	45	64	24
Cumberland	18	51	102	23
Currituck	3	43	54	30
Dare	11	32	46	15
Davidson	20	37	64	–
Davie	10	30	48	22
Duplin	18	31	44	20
Durham	3	45	52	35
Edgecombe	7	28	37	19
Forsyth	16	39	51	25
Franklin	6	41	65	27
Gaston	21	33	75	20
Gates	5	29	35	24
Graham	2	60	96	23
Granville	10	30	46	25
Greene	10	30	36	26
Guilford	16	43	70	24
Halifax	9	27	36	20
Harnett	11	41	86	22
Haywood	12	29	38	22
Henderson	9	46	63	28
Hertford	9	46	226	18
Hoke	6	37	54	20
Hyde	5	24	32	15
Iredell	14	41	59	31
Jackson	7	37	52	22
Johnston	19	36	76	25
Jones	6	28	40	23
Lee	5	33	43	23
Lenoir	8	41	62	26
Lincoln	9	37	52	28
Macon	9	31	40	23
Madison	7	23	27	20
Martin	5	38	49	25
McDowell	8	30	36	25
Mecklenburg	12	52	190	28
Mitchell	4	32	50	22
Montgomery	9	27	32	21
Moore	15	38	81	22
Nash	14	32	47	5
New Hanover	3	31	37	22
Northampton	8	29	36	22
Onslow	14	30	40	21
Orange	6	38	43	31
Pamlico	7	23	30	20
Pasquotank	4	31	35	28
Pender	10	54	222	20
Perquimans	4	30	34	25
Person	6	34	56	22
Pitt	20	37	51	19
Polk	6	36	41	32
Randolph	15	33	68	8
Richmond	6	32	53	22
Robeson	17	27	37	18
Rockingham	17	35	68	19
Rowan	22	32	55	7
Rutherford	15	29	39	22
Sampson	11	32	46	25
Scotland	6	28	33	23
Stanly	11	39	50	27
Stokes	10	35	45	27
Surry	17	32	45	20
Swain	3	29	37	21
Transylvania	7	32	40	22
Tyrrell	1	64	–	–
Union	16	38	97	22
Vance	6	31	63	18
Wake	12	53	81	29
Warren	8	26	30	22
Washington	4	27	29	25
Watauga	8	31	45	24
Wayne	18	31	50	20
Wilkes	17	29	37	22
Wilson	8	26	30	23
Yadkin	10	38	54	10
Yancey	5	30	33	25

Career Departments of North Carolina

Here are the average numbers of career firefighters for each county within North Carolina, as well as the maximum and minimum numbers for that county.

County	# Career Departments	Average Firefighters	Highest #	Lowest #
Alamance	2	66	90	41
Beaufort	1	52	–	–
Brunswick	5	27	43	19
Buncombe	9	66	273	22
Burke	1	90	–	–
Cabarrus	2	157	222	91
Caldwell	1	66	–	–
Carteret	2	39	50	27
Catawba	2	91	132	49
Cleveland	1	63	–	–
Craven	2	62	81	42
Cumberland	3	158	331	70
Currituck	1	144	–	–
Dare	1	39	–	–
Davidson	2	54	61	47
Durham	3	157	338	60
Edgecombe	2	86	144	27
Forsyth	3	145	340	28
Gaston	2	91	139	42
Granville	1	47	–	–
Guilford	5	160	441	17
Halifax	1	31	–	–
Harnett	1	44	–	–
Henderson	2	35	38	32
Iredell	2	77	81	72
Johnston	1	90	–	–
Lee	1	52	–	–
Lenoir	1	50	–	–
Lincoln	1	42	–	–
Mecklenburg	2	550	1056	43
Moore	2	36	36	35
New Hanover	2	197	209	185
Onslow	3	85	157	6
Orange	2	64	92	36
Pasquotank	2	33	43	23
Person	1	37	–	–
Pitt	1	158	–	–
Randolph	1	52	–	–
Robeson	1	57	–	–
Rockingham	1	43	–	–
Rowan	1	62	–	–
Rutherford	1	29	–	–
Sampson	1	36	–	–
Stanly	1	44	–	–
Union	2	70	90	50
Vance	1	47	–	–
Wake	9	126	500	22
Watauga	1	47	–	–
Wayne	2	83	84	82
Wilson	1	92	–	–

Department Types of North Carolina

Here are the department types by county for volunteer and career agencies in for North Carolina.

Looking for NFIRS FDIDs?

Here are the fire department identifiers (FDIDs) for agencies within North Carolina. NFIRS FDIDs are required for submitting NFIRS reports with mutual aid or automatic aid with those departments.

Need more NFIRS help?

Here are some useful ressources to learn more about NFIRS.

NFIRS Codes Cheat Sheet – NFIRS Coding – NFIRS Examples – FDIDs – POCs – NFIRS Transactions – NFIRS Modules – NFIRS Elements – NFIRS Rules – NFIRS Reference – NFIRS Compliant ?

You can also read this NFIRS 5.0 Complete Reference Guide, and NFIRS 5.0 Design documentation in order to have a deeper understanding of NFIRS 5.0. Here are also NFIRS 5.0 Forms ready for you to download and use.

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