Is being a firefighter easy job?

I was a firefighter for 16 years in Northern California. In all that time, there was only 2 times I thought I might "buy the farm" as they say. All in all, safety is of primary concern to any modern fire department, whether paid or volunteer. Every firefighter is trained in the mantra, "Us, Ours, Them, Theirs". We always work in a team environment, and modern gear and equipment is designed with safety as a first priority. Such things as NOMEX, a fire resistant fabric our turnout gear is crafted from, to PASS alarms, which don't go off unless they stay still for 30 seconds or more, allowing outside teams to locate a downed firefighter, help keep us safe.

All of that said, many of the environments we work in are extreme, by nature unsafe, and are hazardous to human life. In the average house fire temperatures are 800 - 1000 degrees at ceiling height, and around 300 to 400 degrees at floor level, where the firefighters do their work. In addition, many other tasks, such as emergency medical, land and water rescue, vehicle extrication and hazmat have all been added to the firefighter's mandate in the last 30 years, adding to the amount of risk.

Statistically speaking, firefighting is getting safer every year in the US. But if you google "firefighter deaths in US 2011" you'll see that not every one of us makes it out alive.