Department profile
Career (Paid)EMS ProviderEl Cajon Fire Department
El Cajon, CA · San Diego County. El Cajon Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 4 stations and 73 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.
- 73
- Total personnel
- 4
- Stations
- Not reported
- Fire trucks
- Yes
- EMS service
The verdict
El Cajon Fire Department pairs top-10% national personnel with a headcount well above the California average.
- Top 8%
- national personnel size
- +97%
- vs. California average
- 4
- stations
- $1,844,631
- 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.
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.
El Cajon Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving El Cajon, CA (San Diego County), with 4 stations and 73 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #1,755 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $1,844,631.
- National personnel rank #1,755 of 22,440
- CA personnel rank #117 of 721
- 5.48 stations per 100 personnel
- EMS provider (HIFLD)
- 63 other listed departments in San Diego County
El Cajon Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution
Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department
73 Top 8% higher than 92% 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 37055 · El Cajon Fire Department, CA 73 personnel · 4 stations
PERS-MID · STA-FEW · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL
- PERS-MID 73
- STA-FEW 4 stations
- TYPE-CAREER Career
- EMS-Y EMS on file
- RANK-TOP #1,755
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Key West Fire Dep…
- FEMA-MID $1.8M
- BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields
Nearest personnel peer: Key West Fire Department Central Station, FL (+ 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 CA department.
- El Cajon (this dept) 73
- High Frankford Volunte…, DE 73
- Near Key West Fire Dep…, FL 73
- Near Cooperstown Fire…, NY 73
- Near Dagsboro Volunteer, DE 73
Department Profile
- Type
- PAID
- Location
- El Cajon, CA
- County
- San Diego County
- FDID
- 37055
FEMA Grant History
| Year | Award | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | EMW-2024-FF-01540 | $1,844,631.29 |
Source: USAspending.gov (CFDA 97.044 AFG / 97.083 SAFER)
Staffing vs the California average
How El Cajon Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in California. In-state it ranks #117 of 721 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #1,755 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.
- Stations
- 4
- State fire deaths/yr
- 346
- CA departments
- 1,309
County roster fringe
El Cajon Fire Department is 2.0% of San Diego County roster mass
The county lists 83 departments totaling 3,721 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 87% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.
5.48 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (4 stations / 73 roster).
Photo-finish peer: Key West Fire Department Central Station, FL (+0 personnel).
Nearby Departments
Nationwide career peers near 73 personnel
Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every CA department.