Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Imperial Beach Fire Department

Imperial Beach, CA · San Diego County. Imperial Beach Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 1 station and 16 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.

16
Total personnel
1
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Imperial Beach Fire Department pairs modest national personnel with a headcount well below the California average.

13th pct.
national personnel size
-57%
vs. California average
1
station
$508,298
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.

C
PlainFireData Composite Score
49/100
Imperial Beach 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
16 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
$31,769 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
16 personnel · 1 station

Imperial Beach Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Imperial Beach, CA (San Diego County), with 1 station and 16 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #19,630 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $508,298.

  • National personnel rank #19,630 of 22,440
  • CA personnel rank #603 of 721
  • 6.25 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 63 other listed departments in San Diego County

Imperial Beach Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

16 Top 87% higher than 13% 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 37085 · Imperial Beach Fire Department, CA 16 personnel · 1 station

PERS-SMALL · STA-1 · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-SMALL 16
  • STA-1 1 station
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-LOWER #19,630
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Washington Townsh…
  • FEMA-MID $508K
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department, OH (+ 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.

Department Profile

Type
MOSTLY PAID
Location
Imperial Beach, CA
FDID
37085

FEMA Grant History

$508K
Cumulative funding (FY2014)
1
Awards
Year Award Amount
2014 EMW2013FH00895 $508,298

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

Staffing vs the California average

How Imperial Beach Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in California. In-state it ranks #603 of 721 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #19,630 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▼ 57% below the state average
Stations
1
State fire deaths/yr
346
CA departments
1,309

County roster fringe

Imperial Beach Fire Department is 0.4% 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.

6.25 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (1 station / 16 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department, OH (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Barona Fire Protection District
Lakeside · career
Borrego Springs Fire Protection District
Borrego Springs · career
All CA departments →

Nationwide career peers near 16 personnel

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

Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department, OH 16 Funk Rural Fire Department, NE 16 Toler Creek Volunteer Fire Department, KY 16 Little America Holdings Fire Department, WY 16 Marinette Fire Department, WI 16 Veterans Administration Fire Department - Canandaigua, NY 16 City of Milton Fire Department 23, FL 16 Kenai Fire Department, AK 16

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Imperial Beach Fire Department have?

Imperial Beach Fire Department has 16 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 57% below the California average of 37 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #19,630 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within CA, it ranks #603 of 721 by personnel.

Does Imperial Beach Fire Department provide EMS services?

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

How many fire stations does Imperial Beach Fire Department operate?

Imperial Beach Fire Department operates 1 fire station.

What type of fire department is Imperial Beach Fire Department?

Imperial Beach Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving San Diego County, CA. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Imperial Beach Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Imperial Beach Fire Department has received 1 FEMA grant totaling $508,298 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2014 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2014.

How many fire departments are in California?

California has 1,309 fire departments with 48,526 total personnel. 40% 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.