While sometimes fires can be limited to small areas of a structure, wider collateral damage due to smoke, water and burning embers is common.

Some tactics used to achieve positive results at a structure fire include scene size-up, door control, coordinated ventilation, and exterior attack prior to entry.

Precautionary methods, such as smashing a window, reveal backdraft situations before the firefighter enters the structure and is met with the circumstance head-on.

Various steps such as retrieving and protecting valuables found during suppression or overhaul, evacuating water, and boarding windows and roofs can divert or prevent post-fire runoff.

When dealing with an emergency, the airport firefighters are tasked with rapidly securing the aircraft, its crew and its passengers from all hazards, particularly fire.

Complex, infrequent situations requiring specialized training and equipment include rescues from collapsed buildings and confined spaces.

A self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) delivers air to the firefighter through a full face mask and is worn to protect against smoke inhalation, toxic fumes, and super heated gases.

Lack of a personal rescue rope is cited in the deaths of two New York City Firefighters, Lt. John Bellew and Lt. Curtis Meyran, who died after they jumped from the fourth floor of a burning apartment building in the Bronx.

Current OSHA tables exist for heat injury and the allowable amount of work in a given environment based on temperature, humidity and solar loading.

Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle tissue and has many causes including heat exposure, high core body temperature, and prolonged, intense exertion.

[19][20] Another leading cause of death during firefighting is structural collapse of a burning building (e.g. a wall, floor, ceiling, roof, or truss system).

A common measure fire departments have taken to prevent this is to require firefighters to wear a bright yellow reflective vest over their turnout coats if they have to work on a public road, to make them more visible to passing drivers.

This type of violence is a major reason for burnout and depression in First Responders, while EMS deal more with people on a daily basis, ~18% Firefighters experience PTSD due to WPV[25] and 60% had at least one call where they had feared for their life or questioned their safety.

While there are numerous benefits to flame retardant products in terms of the reduction of major fires, the components that make up these substances are extremely harmful.

While many hazardous chemicals used in fire-fighting materials, such as penta-bromdiphenyl ether have already been banned by the government, they are almost immediately replaced by a new substance with similar harmful effects.

After banning penta-bromodiphenyl ether, chlorinated tris, chloroalkyl phospahtes, halogenated aryl esters, and tetrabromophthalate dio diester were used instead.

[31] Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which are carcinogenic, come from the incomplete combustion of organic materials and are often found as a result of structural and wildland fires.

Historically, the fire service blamed poor firefighter physical condition for being the primary cause of cardiovascular related deaths.

However, over the last 20 years, studies and research has indicated the toxic gasses put fire service personnel at significantly higher risk for cardiovascular related conditions and death.

Recent studies suggest that due to their exposure on the fireground, firefighters may be at an increased risk for certain types of cancer and other chronic diseases.

As firefighters combat a fire and clean up hazardous materials, there is a risk of harmful chemicals coming in contact with their skin if it penetrates their personal protective equipment (PPE).

Wildland firefighters may hike several miles while carrying heavy equipment during the wildfire season, which has increased in duration over time, especially in the western United States.

[96] Chronic stress over time attributes to symptoms that affect first responders, such as anxiousness, irritability, nervousness, memory and concentration problems can occur overtime which can lead to anxiety and depression.

[97] A 2014 report from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation found that a fire department is three times more likely to experience a suicide in a given year than a line-of-duty death.

[76] Another long-term risk factor from firefighting is exposure to high levels of sound, which can cause noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and tinnitus.

[101][106] Hearing loss prevention programs have been implemented in multiple stations and have shown to help lower the rate of firefighters with NIHL.

On the other hand, it may not be practical to employ full-time firefighters in villages and isolated small towns, where their services may not be required for days at a time.

On the other hand, in Germany and Austria,[110] volunteers play a substantial role even in the largest fire departments, including Berlin's, which serves a population of 3.6 million.

Advances in modern radio technology have reduced the need for ten-codes and many departments have converted to simple English (clear text).

Likewise, fire fighters of the Roman Republic existed solely as privately organized and funded groups that operated more similarly to a business than a public service; however, during the Principate period, Augustus revolutionized firefighting by calling for the creation of a fire guard that was trained, paid, and equipped by the state, thereby commissioning the first truly public and professional firefighting service.