Department profile
Career (Paid)EMS ProviderSanta Barbara County Fire Department
Santa Barbara, CA · Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 15 stations and 264 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.
- 264
- Total personnel
- 15
- Stations
- Not reported
- Fire trucks
- Yes
- EMS service
The verdict
Santa Barbara County Fire Department pairs top-1% national personnel with a headcount more than double the California average.
- Top 1%
- national personnel size
- +614%
- vs. California average
- 15
- 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.
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.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Santa Barbara, CA (Santa Barbara County), with 15 stations and 264 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #143 of 22,440.
- National personnel rank #143 of 22,440
- CA personnel rank #20 of 721
- 5.68 stations per 100 personnel
- EMS provider (HIFLD)
- 13 other listed departments in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution
Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department
264 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 42035 · Santa Barbara County Fire Department, CA 264 personnel · 15 stations
PERS-LARGE · STA-MULTI · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-FULL
- PERS-LARGE 264
- STA-MULTI 15 stations
- TYPE-CAREER Career
- EMS-Y EMS on file
- RANK-TOP #143
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Elizabeth
- FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
- BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields
Nearest personnel peer: Elizabeth 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 CA department.
- High Tallahassee City, FL 265
- Santa Barbara Cou… (this dept) 264
- Near Elizabeth, NJ 264
- Near New Bedford, MA 262
- Low Joppa-Magnolia Vo…, MD 260
Department Profile
- Type
- PAID
- Location
- Santa Barbara, CA
- County
- Santa Barbara County
- FDID
- 42035
Staffing vs the California average
How Santa Barbara County Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in California. In-state it ranks #20 of 721 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #143 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.
- Stations
- 15
- State fire deaths/yr
- 346
- CA departments
- 1,309
County roster weight
Santa Barbara County Fire Department carries 43.0% of Santa Barbara County HIFLD personnel
Among 19 listed departments (614 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 21% of the county count. County / state rollup.
5.68 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (15 stations / 264 roster).
Photo-finish peer: Elizabeth Fire Department, NJ (+0 personnel).
No FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on this FDID in USAspending (empty federal book).
Nearby Departments
Nationwide career peers near 264 personnel
Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every CA department.