• California & Florida are tied at the top of the ranking for the states with the fewest fire departments per 100,000 people  

• North Dakota is revealed to have the most fire departments per 100,000 people  

• Data from the U.S Fire Administration was analyzed    

Real estate investors specializing in fire damage firecashbuyers.com analyzed data from the U.S Fire Administration to discover the number of fire departments in each state; the number was weighted against the population to determine which states have the fewest departments per 100,000 people, as well as those that have the most.  

Florida and California are joint first in the list of the states with the fewest fire departments, with both states having just 2.15 fire departments per 100,000 people. This low number may be alarming for citizens, given that both states experience extremely hot climates that impose a risk of wildfires.   

However, despite having the fewest fire departments, 29.8% of those in California are registered as a career department, this being slightly higher than the number of registered volunteer departments at 28.7%. Career departments are typically more equipped, with the firefighters usually having more experience. As well as this, Florida has 39% career departments compared to 34.6% volunteer departments.    

Nevada, California’s neighbor, is second on the list. Despite wildfires being a common occurrence each year in Nevada, there are just 2.83 fire departments for every 100,000th person – so those residing in the Silver State must remain extra vigilant of fire hazards.    

Third on the list is Arizona, having only 3.33 fire departments per 100,000 citizens. Like Florida and California, Arizona has more career fire departments than volunteer departments by a small percentage, with 31.5% for the former and 30.6% for the latter.    

Maryland places fourth in the list, with 4.23 fire departments for every 100,000th citizen. One way to protect yourself from fires is to avoid overloading extension cords – if appliances that are plugged in at once exceed the maximum rating for the cord, the plug can overheat and cause a fire. You can prevent this by checking the rating for each lead which is usually visible on the back, or you can even use an overload calculator.