What other responsibilities do firefighters have other than fighting fires?

Emergency calls represent only a small percentage of the work of a typical fire department. The number of residential and commercial fires has steadily decreased over the years due to a variety of factors including improvements in construction, a greater public awareness of the risk factors leading to fires and a significant reduction in smoking nationwide. Fires, however, are only some of the emergencies to which the Fire Department responds. Nearly 80% of the Fire Department’s emergency responses are, in fact, calls for medical aid, including illness/accidents at home and work, and injuries resulting from vehicle crashes. Other calls for emergency response involve hazardous materials releases, technical rescues, response to fire alarms and other calls for public assistance. Firefighters also spend much of their time maintaining equipment, doing routine public safety inspections for businesses and rental housing, training for all types of emergency responses and filling out the reports and paperwork associated with these activities.

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1. Can I get my blood pressure checked at the Fire Department?
2. Can I burn leaves in my yard?
3. How do I obtain a burn permit for inside the City limits of Columbia?
4. How do I obtain a burn permit if I live outside the City limits of Columbia?
5. How do I get a fire truck at my event?
6. How do I obtain a copy of a fire report and is there a cost?
7. How often should I change the batteries in my smoke detectors?
8. Is there a charge for a burn permit?
9. Who do I contact to arrange a fire safety presentation?
10. Who do I contact to arrange a visit to one of your fire stations?
11. What happens if I burn without a permit inside the City limits?
12. What is an ISO rating?
13. How do I obtain a patch or T-shirt from Columbia Fire & Rescue?
14. What other responsibilities do firefighters have other than fighting fires?
15. Why do we see fire department crews at the store?
16. Why do you block traffic lanes at auto accidents, sometimes more lanes than necessary?
17. Why do you send a fire truck to a medical emergency?