---
title: "Will AI Replace Firefighters? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates firefighters' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+3.7% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-firefighters"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Firefighters? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates firefighters among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places firefighters in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +3.7% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 26,800 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 65/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +3.7% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 26,800 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $59,280 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low (this job) | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Performing general physical activities: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Operating vehicles, mechanized devices, or equipment: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Assisting and caring for others: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work context)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Getting information: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards.
- Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus.
- Respond to fire alarms and other calls for assistance, such as automobile and industrial accidents.
- Assess fires and situations and report conditions to superiors to receive instructions, using two-way radios.
- Patrol burned areas after fires to locate and eliminate hot spots that may restart fires.
- Collaborate with police to respond to accidents, disasters, and arson investigation calls.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [Paramedic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paramedic): BLS exposure Low, median $60,600; [Will AI replace paramedics?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-paramedics)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace firefighters?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates firefighters among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +3.7% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 26,800 openings a year.

**How exposed are firefighters to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Firefighters are in the low category, alongside 202 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a firefighter's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are documenting/recording information, getting information and processing information. The parts that hold up best are performing general physical activities, operating vehicles, mechanized devices, or equipment and assisting and caring for others. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a firefighter a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, firefighters score 65 out of 100, higher than 93% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $59,280 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to firefighters are less exposed to AI?**

Paramedic (low exposure, $60,600 median). Each is also in the low category, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/firefighter.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology