The study was sponsored by Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, which was founded in 1863 with a mission to support the fire service. Fireman's Fund donates a portion of its profits to support firefighters for safer communities. Since 2004, it has proudly awarded more than $21 million in grants to over 1,100 fire departments across the country.

Ipsos Public Affairs, based in New York, conducted the survey which was available online for six weeks from mid-February to March 31, 2009 to all career and volunteer firefighters in the United States. More than 17,500 firefighters participated, 61 percent of which hold the rank of fire official (chief, captain or lieutenant).

Below is the executive summary of the survey results as concluded by Ipsos:

Executive Summary

It is clear that many fire service organizations perceive they are operating without the training, equipment and funding they need to properly serve their communities. They face a gamut of challenges — from budget cuts to staffing issues — and the current economic crisis is only exacerbating these problems.

Urban fire service organizations, which tend to be larger in scope, are more likely than smaller and more rural departments to say they have the equipment and training they need to do their jobs properly. However, the larger departments are more likely than those that are smaller to say that their budgets are a real challenge and that they have had to cut back on their services because of the recession.

Majorities of career (57 percent), volunteer (54 percent), and combination (55 percent) departments say they do not have sufficient funding to provide their services adequately. Additionally, the recession seems to be hurting career and combination departments more so than volunteer; career departments are more likely to report a decline in revenue, staffing cuts, and reductions in services. In fact, a quarter of career departments say that the quality of service that they provide has declined due to the economic crisis; one in seven volunteer organizations say the same. Furthermore, seven in 10 career departments worry that if the recession continues, it will negatively impact their ability to serve their community, while half of volunteer departments also agree.

However, the economy is taking a bigger toll on smaller and volunteer departments when it comes to recruiting and retaining personnel. Six in 10 volunteer departments are losing volunteers who need to look for other jobs or sources of income, and nearly as many say that it has become more difficult to recruit and keep staff.

Those who are already facing financial problems — insufficient funding, training, equipment, reducing services — are more likely to worry about the continued impact of the recession. Generally, departments that report they do not have sufficient funding tend to paint a bleaker picture overall. They are more likely to be concerned about declining quality of service, to be lacking crucial equipment and training, and to be less confident in their disaster response capabilities. The data suggests that sufficient budgets are a key element to keeping departments running safely and effectively, yet these needs are clearly not being met.