Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Chelsea Fire Department

Chelsea, MA · Suffolk County. Chelsea Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 3 stations and 93 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.

93
Total personnel
3
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Chelsea Fire Department pairs top-5% national personnel with a headcount more than double the Massachusetts average.

Top 5%
national personnel size
+166%
vs. Massachusetts average
3
stations
$2,190,020
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.

B
PlainFireData Composite Score
70/100
Chelsea 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 B
31 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 B
$23,549 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
93 personnel · 3 stations

Chelsea Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Chelsea, MA (Suffolk County), with 3 stations and 93 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #1,095 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $2,190,020.

  • National personnel rank #1,095 of 22,440
  • MA personnel rank #35 of 326
  • 3.23 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 3 other listed departments in Suffolk County

Chelsea Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

93 Top 5% higher than 95% 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 25057 · Chelsea Fire Department, MA 93 personnel · 3 stations

PERS-MID · STA-FEW · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-MID 93
  • STA-FEW 3 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #1,095
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Bergen Volunteer
  • FEMA-MID $2.2M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Bergen Volunteer Fire Department, NY (+ 0 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 MA department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
Chelsea, MA
FDID
25057

FEMA Grant History

$2.2M
Cumulative funding (FY2009)
2
Awards
Year Award Amount
2009 EMW-2009-FC-0340 $1,515,020
2009 EMW-2009-FV-0027 $675,000

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

Staffing vs the Massachusetts average

How Chelsea Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Massachusetts. In-state it ranks #35 of 326 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #1,095 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 166% above the state average
Stations
3
State fire deaths/yr
51
MA departments
568

County roster fringe

Chelsea Fire Department is 4.7% of Suffolk County roster mass

The county lists 11 departments totaling 1,999 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 100% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.

3.23 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (3 stations / 93 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Bergen Volunteer Fire Department, NY (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Winthrop Fire Department
Winthrop · career
All MA departments →

Nationwide career peers near 93 personnel

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

Bergen Volunteer Fire Department, NY 93 Belgium Cold Springs Fire District, NY 93 Reade Township Fire Company, PA 93 Liberty Township Fire Department, OH 93 Moraga-Orinda Fire District, CA 93 Clinton Township Fire Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, MI 93 Springdale Fire Department, AR 93 Petersburg Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, VA 93

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Chelsea Fire Department have?

Chelsea Fire Department has 93 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 166% above the Massachusetts average of 35 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #1,095 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within MA, it ranks #35 of 326 by personnel.

Does Chelsea Fire Department provide EMS services?

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

How many fire stations does Chelsea Fire Department operate?

Chelsea Fire Department operates 3 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Chelsea Fire Department?

Chelsea Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Suffolk County, MA. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Chelsea Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Chelsea Fire Department has received 2 FEMA grants totaling $2,190,020 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2009 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2009.

How many fire departments are in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts has 568 fire departments with 19,841 total personnel. 35% 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.