I'm not sure if the number has halved in the last 20 years but the job has definitely changed (and not for the better!). But, to answer your question, as they improve one area, other areas seem to get worse. For example, in London we seem to get a lot more electrical fires these days, partly due to the huge amount of illegal cannabis factories!
My Nephew has been a retained fireperson in Scunthorpe,and regular for some years. Sadly he has recently been made redundant as it seems with such things as fire alarms the amount of fires really has reduced in recent years.
Yes they have gone done from around 40,000 to currently around 20,000 (many of whom are part time)
There are at least 12, bec ause they produce a Calendar every year.
Correction, there are loads...
http://www.cafepress.com/+fireman+calend...
Over the last 20 years the following factors have caused them to have a serious level of under activity
Cars crash less often (cameras everywhere, ABS) and have much better built-in crash protection
Buildings are built to a far higher anti fire spec.
A series of bad summers has made grass fires a thing of the past
Parents don't want their kids to go out and play hide and seek (even walk to school)
People don't use open chip pans anymore
Settees and insulation are made of fire resistant material.
There's much more vigorous legislation covering fire alarms and sprinkler systems.
But I can't think of any thing that has increased their activity!
Have their numbers halved in the last twenty years? Or even more? Does anyone know? Thanks
