This may give some perspective...
In the county where I’m currently working (and used to live), there are less than 6,000 people and it covers less than 250 square miles. There is one town with less than 1000 people and it’s the county seat. Town doesn’t even have a traffic light and there are multiple ways to drive through without even coming to a stop sign.
It takes about 30 minutes to drive from one side of the county to the other - if you stay on the paved State Routes. Get off those, and the “roads” are mostly gravel if you’re lucky, mud if you’re not.
It’s said that there are more deer than people, and I don’t doubt it. There are probably more cattle than people too.
In town, the fire department does a pretty decent job. Fires are rare and the dept always contains them to the structure, but structures are rarely saved. The town was founded in the mid-1800s and most of the structures are stick-built and getting on 100 years old. They go up quick.
Outside of town, the primary purpose of the fire department is to keep the brush and/or woods from alighting/spreading and offer medical assistance if needed. Even if there was a “professional” fire department, they won’t get there in time to affect the outcome of the structure fire. In fact, because the volunteers are spread out and go directly to the fire rather than going to the station first, chances are that they can get there faster than any centralized organization. Might not affect the outcome of the blaze itself, but having an experienced person on scene early likely saves lives if only by preventing the occupants from doing something reckless out of desperation.
Also to put this area in perspective, the town has no local police force. There is a county sheriff with two deputies for the entire county, and the state police regularly patrol the main routes and assist the sheriff when they can.
There’s also a separate EMS service with one or two ambulances.
Crime and fires are so rare here that they are big news.
Please excuse the double post.