How much does Australia rely on volunteer firefighters?

For those of us who live in the Helidon Hills it is clear that we are heavily reliant on the Rural Fire Brigade volunteers for our safety in fire events. But how about the rest of the country?

Remembering that Australia has one of the most urbanised populations in the world, you wouldn't expect the reliance to be all that high, right?

Wrong!

"... almost 2 million Australians [rely] largely on volunteer fire brigades to protect them and A$500 billion in assets."

This is from a Sydney Morning Herald article on a report by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research.