Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Seattle Fire Department

Seattle, WA · King County. Seattle Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 35 stations and 1,078 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.

1,078
Total personnel
35
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Seattle Fire Department pairs top-1% national personnel with a headcount more than double the Washington average.

Top 1%
national personnel size
+2814%
vs. Washington average
35
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.

B
PlainFireData Composite Score
69/100
Seattle 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 B
30.8 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
1,078 personnel · 35 stations

Seattle Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Seattle, WA (King County), with 35 stations and 1,078 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #19 of 22,440.

  • National personnel rank #19 of 22,440
  • WA personnel rank #1 of 120
  • 3.25 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 22 other listed departments in King County

Seattle Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

1,078 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 17M15 · Seattle Fire Department, WA 1,078 personnel · 35 stations

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

  • PERS-METRO 1,078
  • STA-SYSTEM 35 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #19
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Charlotte
  • FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
  • BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Charlotte Fire Department, NC (+ 4 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 WA department.

Department Profile

Type
MAINLY PAID PROVIDERS
Location
Seattle, WA
FDID
17M15

Staffing vs the Washington average

How Seattle Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Washington. In-state it ranks #1 of 120 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #19 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 2814% above the state average
Stations
35
State fire deaths/yr
68
WA departments
483

County roster weight

Seattle Fire Department carries 34.6% of King County HIFLD personnel

Among 41 listed departments (3,118 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 17% of the county count. County / state rollup.

3.25 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (35 stations / 1,078 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Charlotte Fire Department, NC (+4 personnel).

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

Nationwide career peers near 1,078 personnel

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