difference between FD and FPD

[agent yo'range]

in the USA we have FDs and FPDs

FD = fire department

FPD = fire protection district

a 'fire department' is typically part of a local government - part of
a city, town, county, borough, village, CSD etc

a 'fire protection district' (FPD) is a separate governmental body
unto themselves - they have their own publicly elected leaders
(typically called 'commissioners')

there are some fire agencys that are called Fire Company or Volunteer
Fire Company - they are typically found in Pennsylvania - they are
private organizations - and they typically have a contract with a
local government agency to supply fire protection in a given area -
sometimes an incoporated area - maybe sometimes an unincorporated area
- this is a special case - not very often seen across the USA -
actually - maybe we need to take that back - iirc MT and ID have some
VFCs - maybe CA has a few also - typically covering rural areas that
dont really have county services or local services - but we digress

both FDs and FPDs typically receive tax funding for stations or
vehicles or payroll or insurance or fuel etc

some VFCs receive governental money also - some exist totally on
donations from the public

generally speaking - the services provided by FDs and FPDs and VFCs
are all very similar - none of them are generally richer or poorer
than others - none of them have newer or older vehicles or stations -
none of them seem to have better or worse save rates than the others

all of these agencies operate under state laws - and maybe under
downstream county and local laws

many of the smaller FDs have much older fire vehicles - but it is hard
to justify a $2M ladder truck in a town that has only 1 structure fire
every 20 years