Department profile
Career (Paid)EMS ProviderReading Fire Department
Reading, MA · Middlesex County. Reading Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 2 stations and 58 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.
- 58
- Total personnel
- 2
- Stations
- Not reported
- Fire trucks
- Yes
- EMS service
The verdict
Reading Fire Department pairs top-quartile national personnel with a headcount well above the Massachusetts average.
- Top 13%
- national personnel size
- +66%
- vs. Massachusetts average
- 2
- stations
- $581,007
- 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.
Reading Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Reading, MA (Middlesex County), with 2 stations and 58 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #2,856 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $581,007.
- National personnel rank #2,856 of 22,440
- MA personnel rank #72 of 326
- 3.45 stations per 100 personnel
- EMS provider (HIFLD)
- 65 other listed departments in Middlesex County
Reading Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution
Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department
58 Top 13% higher than 87% 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 17246 · Reading Fire Department, MA 58 personnel · 2 stations
PERS-MID · STA-FEW · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL
- PERS-MID 58
- STA-FEW 2 stations
- TYPE-CAREER Career
- EMS-Y EMS on file
- RANK-UPPER #2,856
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Walls
- FEMA-MID $581K
- BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields
Nearest personnel peer: Walls Fire Department, MS (+ 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.
- Reading (this dept) 58
- High Pompton Lakes Vol…, NJ 58
- Near Walls, MS 58
- Near Center Township E…, IN 58
- Near Lehigh Acres Fire…, FL 58
Department Profile
- Type
- CAREER
- Location
- Reading, MA
- County
- Middlesex County
- FDID
- 17246
FEMA Grant History
| Year | Award | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | EMW-2017-FH-00158 | $581,007.02 |
Source: USAspending.gov (CFDA 97.044 AFG / 97.083 SAFER)
Staffing vs the Massachusetts average
How Reading Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Massachusetts. In-state it ranks #72 of 326 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #2,856 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.
- Stations
- 2
- State fire deaths/yr
- 51
- MA departments
- 568
County roster fringe
Reading Fire Department is 1.6% of Middlesex County roster mass
The county lists 95 departments totaling 3,724 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 99% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.
3.45 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (2 stations / 58 roster).
Photo-finish peer: Walls Fire Department, MS (+0 personnel).
Nearby Departments
Nationwide career peers near 58 personnel
Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every MA department.