County profile
San Diego County, CA 82 departments
Fire department coverage, staffing, and EMS data for San Diego County, part of California.
Department Types
Fire Departments in San Diego County
What the Fire Coverage Data Means for San Diego County, CA
San Diego County reports 82 fire departments in the federal HIFLD registry, staffed by approximately 3,708 total personnel. The organizational breakdown matters because career, volunteer, and combination departments differ sharply in response time, funding, and training cadence: this county lists 42 career (paid), 16 volunteer, and 0 combination departments. 72 of these departments also provides Emergency Medical Services, meaning the same crews that arrive on a structure fire can often begin patient care on cardiac or trauma calls without waiting for a separate ambulance agency.
Benchmarking the county against its parent state highlights coverage gaps and strengths. California overall averages roughly 37 personnel per department across 1,309 departments. San Diego County averages 45 personnel per department, 22% above the state mean. Heavier staffing usually signals higher population density, more commercial risk, or county-wide mutual aid consolidation. The state reports about 168,000 fires and 346 fire deaths annually, and 40% of its departments are volunteer-run.
Residents, property owners, and insurance agents can use this profile in several practical ways. A home inside a career or combination department's first-due area typically earns better ISO Public Protection Classification ratings and lower homeowners premiums than one served solely by a distant volunteer station. If the county is heavily volunteer, it is worth checking whether the nearest department has recent FEMA AFG or SAFER grants and whether mutual-aid agreements extend coverage during large incidents. Click into any department below to see its specific personnel count, station footprint, apparatus inventory, EMS status, and FEMA grant history. All figures come from HIFLD Open Data (FEMA/DHS) and USFA published fire statistics; small volunteer departments are sometimes underreported, so treat zero-value fields as missing data rather than absent services.
FAQ
How many fire departments are in San Diego County, CA? ▼
San Diego County, CA has 82 fire departments with available federal data. 42 career, 16 volunteer,
Does San Diego County have EMS coverage? ▼
Yes — 72 departments in San Diego County provide EMS services.
How many firefighters serve San Diego County? ▼
San Diego County has 3,708 total fire department personnel across 82 departments. The average per department is 45, which is 22% above the California average.
Are San Diego County fire departments mostly volunteer? ▼
No, 42 of 82 departments (51%) are career (paid) departments.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Top fire departments in San Diego, CA
Source: U.S. Fire Administration — National Fire Department Registry NFDR (National Fire Department Registry) · 2024 NFDR is a voluntary registry; not all departments may be included. Personnel counts include both career and volunteer staff.
