Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Santa Maria Fire Department

Santa Maria, CA · Santa Barbara County. Santa Maria Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 4 stations and 53 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.

53
Total personnel
4
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

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

Top 16%
national personnel size
+43%
vs. California average
4
stations
$3,231,453
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
50/100
Santa Maria 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 F
13.3 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 A
$60,971 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
53 personnel · 4 stations

Santa Maria Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Santa Maria, CA (Santa Barbara County), with 4 stations and 53 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #3,503 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $3,231,453.

  • National personnel rank #3,503 of 22,440
  • CA personnel rank #182 of 721
  • 7.55 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 13 other listed departments in Santa Barbara County

Santa Maria Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

53 Top 16% higher than 84% 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 42040 · Santa Maria Fire Department, CA 53 personnel · 4 stations

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

  • PERS-MID 53
  • STA-FEW 4 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-UPPER #3,503
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ City of Lebanon
  • FEMA-MID $3.2M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: City of Lebanon Fire Department, NH (+ 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 Maria, CA
FDID
42040

FEMA Grant History

$3.2M
Cumulative funding (FY2009–2018)
4
Awards
Year Award Amount
2018 EMW-2018-FH-00310 $1,599,399
2017 EMW2016FV01999 $988,410
2017 EMW2016FO04249 $345,369
2009 EMW-2009-FO-1012 $298,275

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

Staffing vs the California average

How Santa Maria Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in California. In-state it ranks #182 of 721 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #3,503 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 43% above the state average
Stations
4
State fire deaths/yr
346
CA departments
1,309

County roster fringe

Santa Maria Fire Department is 8.6% of Santa Barbara County roster mass

The county lists 19 departments totaling 614 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 79% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.

7.55 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (4 stations / 53 roster).

Photo-finish peer: City of Lebanon Fire Department, NH (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Guadalupe Fire Department
Guadalupe · volunteer
Lompoc Fire Department
Lompoc · career
Montecito Fire Protection District
Santa Barbara · career
San Marcos Pass Volunteer Fire Department
Santa Barbara · volunteer
Santa Barbara City Fire Department
Santa Barbara · career
All CA departments →

Nationwide career peers near 53 personnel

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

City of Lebanon Fire Department, NH 53 Newport Township Consolidated Fire Company, PA 53 Mount Grove Volunteer Fire Department, WV 53 Hobart Fire Department, IN 53 Murray City Fire Department, UT 53 East Brentwood Fire Department, NY 53 Northern Lakes Fire Protection District, ID 53 Fort Polk Fire Department, LA 53

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Santa Maria Fire Department have?

Santa Maria Fire Department has 53 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 43% above the California average of 37 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #3,503 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within CA, it ranks #182 of 721 by personnel.

Does Santa Maria Fire Department provide EMS services?

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

How many fire stations does Santa Maria Fire Department operate?

Santa Maria Fire Department operates 4 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Santa Maria Fire Department?

Santa Maria Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Santa Barbara County, CA. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Santa Maria Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Santa Maria Fire Department has received 4 FEMA grants totaling $3,231,453 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2009–2018 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2018.

How many fire departments are in California?

California has 1,309 fire departments with 48,526 total personnel. 40% 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.