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With Fewer Fires To Fight, Is It Time To Revisit The Role Of Firefighters?

warriorwoman531 via Flickr Creative Commons

In 1975, Boston firefighters battled more than 400 blazes. Last year, there were only forty. That 90 percent drop reflects a nationwide victory in the crusade against fires, but even as America’s blazes burn out, the number of career firefighters per capita remains relatively unchanged.  

Leon Neyfakh is Ideas reporter for The Boston Globe.

Taylor Quimby is Supervising Senior Producer of the environmental podcast Outside/In, Producer/Reporter/Host of Patient Zero, and Senior Producer of the serialized true crime podcast Bear Brook.
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