Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Portage Fire Department

Portage, MI · Kalamazoo County. Portage Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 3 stations and 56 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.

56
Total personnel
3
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Portage Fire Department pairs top-quartile national personnel with a headcount more than double the Michigan average.

Top 14%
national personnel size
+155%
vs. Michigan average
3
stations
$814,857
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
43/100
Portage 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
18.7 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 C
$14,551 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
56 personnel · 3 stations

Portage Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Portage, MI (Kalamazoo County), with 3 stations and 56 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #3,033 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $814,857.

  • National personnel rank #3,033 of 22,440
  • MI personnel rank #51 of 1,008
  • 5.36 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 17 other listed departments in Kalamazoo County

Portage Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

56 Top 14% higher than 86% 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 03916 · Portage Fire Department, MI 56 personnel · 3 stations

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

  • PERS-MID 56
  • STA-FEW 3 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-UPPER #3,033
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Chews Landing
  • FEMA-MID $815K
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Chews Landing Fire Department, NJ (+ 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 MI department.

Department Profile

Type
MOSTLY CAREER
Location
Portage, MI
FDID
03916

FEMA Grant History

$815K
Cumulative funding (FY2013)
1
Awards
Year Award Amount
2013 EMW2012FR00383 $814,857

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

Staffing vs the Michigan average

How Portage Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Michigan. In-state it ranks #51 of 1,008 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #3,033 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 155% above the state average
Stations
3
State fire deaths/yr
112
MI departments
1,274

County roster fringe

Portage Fire Department is 6.7% of Kalamazoo County roster mass

The county lists 23 departments totaling 832 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 35% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.

5.36 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (3 stations / 56 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Chews Landing Fire Department, NJ (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Alamo Township Fire Department
Kalamazoo · volunteer
Climax Township Fire Department
Climax · volunteer
Cooper Township Fire Department
Kalamazoo · volunteer
Galesburg-Charleston Fire Department
Galesburg · volunteer
All MI departments →

Nationwide career peers near 56 personnel

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

Chews Landing Fire Department, NJ 56 Scotland Volunteer Fire Department, CT 56 Underwood-Petersville Volunteer Fire Department, AL 56 Walkertown Fire and Rescue, NC 56 Forsyth County Fire Department, NC 56 Kernersville Fire Department, NC 56 Redwood Volunteer Fire Department, NC 56 Sanford Fire Department, NC 56

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Portage Fire Department have?

Portage Fire Department has 56 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 155% above the Michigan average of 22 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #3,033 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within MI, it ranks #51 of 1,008 by personnel.

Does Portage Fire Department provide EMS services?

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

How many fire stations does Portage Fire Department operate?

Portage Fire Department operates 3 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Portage Fire Department?

Portage Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Kalamazoo County, MI. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Portage Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Portage Fire Department has received 1 FEMA grant totaling $814,857 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2013 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2013.

How many fire departments are in Michigan?

Michigan has 1,274 fire departments with 28,594 total personnel. 61% 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.