Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Charleston Fire Department

Charleston, WV · Kanawha County. Charleston Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 10 stations and 203 total personnel. The department also provides EMS services. According to the HIFLD fire-station federal registry (as of 2026-09), full equipment, coverage, and staffing data are below.

203
Total personnel
10
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Charleston Fire Department pairs top-1% national personnel with a headcount more than double the West Virginia average.

Top 1%
national personnel size
+783%
vs. West Virginia average
10
stations
$419,028
FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record

National percentile ranks this department's personnel headcount against every listable U.S. department with reported staffing; the state comparison uses the same personnel figure against its own state's average. Both feed the verdict sentence and the chips above.

D
PlainFireData Composite Score
24/100
Charleston Fire Department

A staffing, equipment, EMS-integration, and federal-grant-funding composite benchmarked against every other USFA-registered department nationally, not a safety rating, response-time measure, or comparison of fire risk. Dimensions with no data on file are excluded and their weight redistributed, never counted as zero.

Staffing capacity D
20.3 personnel per station (national median 23.5)
Equipment readiness
No vehicle count on file for this department
EMS integration
No EMS staffing breakdown on file
Federal investment F
$2,064 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
203 personnel · 10 stations

Charleston Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Charleston, WV (Kanawha County), with 10 stations and 203 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #220 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $419,028.

  • National personnel rank #220 of 22,440
  • WV personnel rank #1 of 359
  • 4.93 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 31 other listed departments in Kanawha County

Charleston Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department

203 Top 1% higher than 99% of 22,440 departments

Listable U.S. fire departments, banded by total personnel

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more departments. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source HIFLD fire-station registry · 2026-09-06

Dispatch plate

Sheet 20205 · Charleston Fire Department, WV 203 personnel · 10 stations

PERS-LARGE · STA-MULTI · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-LIGHT · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-LARGE 203
  • STA-MULTI 10 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #220
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Bakersfield
  • FEMA-LIGHT $419K
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Bakersfield Fire Department, CA ( -1 personnel)

Career/paid HIFLD roster counts, station rows, EMS flag, listable personnel rank, photo-finish peer, and FEMA AFG/SAFER book for this FDID, not a readiness rating.

Personnel neighbourhood

Nationwide HIFLD headcount poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every WV department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
Charleston, WV
FDID
20205

FEMA Grant History

$419K
Cumulative funding (FY2024)
1
Awards
Year Award Amount
2024 EMW-2024-FG-07239 $419,028.18

Source: USAspending.gov (CFDA 97.044 AFG / 97.083 SAFER)

Staffing vs the West Virginia average

How Charleston Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in West Virginia. In-state it ranks #1 of 359 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #220 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 783% above the state average
Stations
10
State fire deaths/yr
55
WV departments
511

County staffing outlier

Career (Paid) island in a volunteer-heavy Kanawha County

County mix is mostly volunteer (22 volunteer / 5 career / 0 combination), while this page is typed career. County / state rollup.

4.93 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (10 stations / 203 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Bakersfield Fire Department, CA (-1 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Belle Volunteer Fire Department
Belle · volunteer
Cedar Grove Volunteer Fire Department
Cedar Grove · volunteer
Clendenin Volunteer Fire Department
Clendenin · volunteer
Dunbar Fire Department
Dunbar · career
East Bank Volunteer Fire Department
East Bank · volunteer
All WV departments →

Nationwide career peers near 203 personnel

Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every WV department.

Bakersfield Fire Department, CA 202 John Hanna Ketcham Hose Company, NY 204 Quincy Fire Department, MA 205 Eugene Fire, OR 205 Green Bay Fire Department, WI 198 Cranston Fire Department, RI 208 Grand Prairie Fire Department, TX 198 Midland Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services, TX 198

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Charleston Fire Department have?

Charleston Fire Department has 203 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 783% above the West Virginia average of 23 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #220 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within WV, it ranks #1 of 359 by personnel.

Does Charleston Fire Department provide EMS services?

Yes, Charleston Fire Department provides Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in addition to fire response.

How many fire stations does Charleston Fire Department operate?

Charleston Fire Department operates 10 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Charleston Fire Department?

Charleston Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Kanawha County, WV. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Charleston Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Charleston Fire Department has received 1 FEMA grant totaling $419,028.18 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2024 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2024.

How many fire departments are in West Virginia?

West Virginia has 511 fire departments with 11,756 total personnel. 70% are volunteer departments.

Related guides

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Verify with USFA/FEMA →

HIFLD/USFA registry extract, informational only, not a readiness rating.