Department profile

Career (Paid)

Santa Cruz Fire Department

Santa Cruz, CA · Santa Cruz County. Santa Cruz Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 3 stations and 54 total personnel. According to the HIFLD fire-station federal registry (as of 2026-09), full equipment, coverage, and staffing data are below.

54
Total personnel
3
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
No
EMS service

The verdict

Santa Cruz Fire Department pairs top-quartile national personnel with a headcount above the California average.

Top 15%
national personnel size
+46%
vs. California average
3
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.

D
PlainFireData Composite Score
32/100
Santa Cruz 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 personnel per station (national median 23.5)
Equipment readiness
No vehicle count on file for this department
EMS integration
Not an EMS-capable department (USFA registry)
Federal investment
No FEMA AFG grant award on file for this department
54 personnel · 3 stations

Santa Cruz Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Santa Cruz, CA (Santa Cruz County), with 3 stations and 54 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #3,380 of 22,440.

  • National personnel rank #3,380 of 22,440
  • CA personnel rank #178 of 721
  • 5.56 stations per 100 personnel
  • 14 other listed departments in Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

54 Top 15% higher than 85% 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 44055 · Santa Cruz Fire Department, CA 54 personnel · 3 stations

PERS-MID · STA-FEW · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-N · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-MID 54
  • STA-FEW 3 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-N No EMS flag
  • RANK-UPPER #3,380
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Lakes of the Four…
  • FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
  • BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Lakes of the Four Seasons Volunteer Fire Force, IN (+ 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
PAID
Location
Santa Cruz, CA
FDID
44055

Staffing vs the California average

How Santa Cruz Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in California. In-state it ranks #178 of 721 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #3,380 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 46% above the state average
Stations
3
State fire deaths/yr
346
CA departments
1,309

County roster fringe

Santa Cruz Fire Department is 9.2% of Santa Cruz County roster mass

The county lists 22 departments totaling 587 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 23% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.

5.56 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (3 stations / 54 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Lakes of the Four Seasons Volunteer Fire Force, IN (+0 personnel).

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

Nationwide career peers near 54 personnel

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