West Virginia ranks 7th in fire departments per capita

NUTTER FORT, W.Va. (WBOY) — With West Virginia’s many winding country roads, the time it takes first responders to make it to the scene of an incident is often up in the air, but you can bet it’s usually quick.

A 2024 study by Fire Recruitment AU and the U.S. Fire Administration ranked West Virginia 7th in the country for fire departments per capita. Nutter Fort Fire Department Captain Frank Ferrari spoke with 12 News about why West Virginia has so many.

“A lot of areas aren’t accessible, like 4 lane highways like 79 and route 50, what not. It takes a lot of time for folks to get around those areas so, fire departments are important because in an emergency, seconds count, so the closer that the department is to an emergency, the better the odds are of getting someone the help they need,” Ferrari said.

Despite the high ranking, 90% of West Virginia’s fire departments are volunteer, and Ferrari says volunteerism is down across the country. This is largely due to the long trainings required, and families not being able to live off of one income when someone is volunteering. This adds a lot of stress to local departments but also creates collaboration between stations.

“The biggest problem is manpower, so fire departments nowadays, on a fire 20 years ago you’d get probably 30 guys right out the gate,” Ferrari said. “Now you’re lucky to get 10 firefighters for 3 fire departments, so we rely a lot on mutual aid, and we help a lot of departments out in their time of need as well.”

Even with numbers down, fire departments in the state rely on community support to truly be able to thrive.

“Funding for us is critical, that’s why we primarily rely on fundraisers, fire fees, and what not,” Ferrari said. “For example, a basic fire engine now that you see behind me is upwards of a million dollars, a set of firefighter protective turnout gear is five grand, and air pack is five grand, a radio is two grand.”