Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

San Diego Fire - Rescue Department

San Diego, CA · San Diego County. San Diego Fire - Rescue Department is a Career (Paid) department, 44 stations and 1,018 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.

1,018
Total personnel
44
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

San Diego Fire - Rescue Department pairs top-1% national personnel with a headcount more than double the California average.

Top 1%
national personnel size
+2651%
vs. California average
44
stations

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
San Diego Fire - Rescue 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 C
23.1 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
No FEMA AFG grant award on file for this department
1,018 personnel · 44 stations

San Diego Fire - Rescue Department is a Career (Paid) department serving San Diego, CA (San Diego County), with 44 stations and 1,018 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #22 of 22,440.

  • National personnel rank #22 of 22,440
  • CA personnel rank #4 of 721
  • 4.32 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 63 other listed departments in San Diego County

San Diego Fire - Rescue Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

1,018 Top 1% higher than 99%+ 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 37140 · San Diego Fire - Rescue Department, CA 1,018 personnel · 44 stations

PERS-METRO · STA-SYSTEM · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-METRO 1,018
  • STA-SYSTEM 44 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #22
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Cleveland
  • FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
  • BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Cleveland Fire Department, OH (+ 10 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
PAID
Location
San Diego, CA
FDID
37140

Staffing vs the California average

How San Diego Fire - Rescue Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in California. In-state it ranks #4 of 721 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #22 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 2651% above the state average
Stations
44
State fire deaths/yr
346
CA departments
1,309

County roster weight

San Diego Fire - Rescue Department carries 27.4% of San Diego County HIFLD personnel

Among 83 listed departments (3,721 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 19% of the county count. County / state rollup.

4.32 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (44 stations / 1,018 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Cleveland Fire Department, OH (+10 personnel).

No FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on this FDID in USAspending (empty federal book).

Nationwide career peers near 1,018 personnel

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