Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

South Metro Fire Department

West Saint Paul, MN · Dakota County. South Metro Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 1 station and 21 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.

21
Total personnel
1
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

South Metro Fire Department pairs modest national personnel with a headcount in line with the Minnesota average.

26th pct.
national personnel size
+0%
vs. Minnesota average
1
station
$4,065,548
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.

B
PlainFireData Composite Score
68/100
South Metro 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 C
21 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
$193,598 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
21 personnel · 1 station

South Metro Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving West Saint Paul, MN (Dakota County), with 1 station and 21 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #16,527 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $4,065,548.

  • National personnel rank #16,527 of 22,440
  • MN personnel rank #449 of 614
  • 4.76 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 13 other listed departments in Dakota County

South Metro Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

21 Top 74% higher than 26% 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 19314 · South Metro Fire Department, MN 21 personnel · 1 station

PERS-SMALL · STA-1 · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-SMALL 21
  • STA-1 1 station
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-LOWER #16,527
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Wynne Fire Station
  • FEMA-MID $4.1M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Wynne Fire Station, AR (+ 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 MN department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
West Saint Paul, MN
FDID
19314

FEMA Grant History

$4.1M
Cumulative funding (FY2009–2023)
3
Awards
Year Award Amount
2023 EMW-2023-FF-00068 $3,361,761.68
2017 EMW2016FO06714 $253,786
2009 EMW-2009-FV-0366 $450,000

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

Staffing vs the Minnesota average

How South Metro Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Minnesota. In-state it ranks #449 of 614 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #16,527 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 0% above the state average
Stations
1
State fire deaths/yr
48
MN departments
883

County roster fringe

South Metro Fire Department is 4.2% of Dakota County roster mass

The county lists 20 departments totaling 495 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 100% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.

4.76 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (1 station / 21 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Wynne Fire Station, AR (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Apple Valley Fire Department
Apple Valley · volunteer
Burnsville Fire Department
Burnsville · other
Eagan Fire Department
Eagan · volunteer
Farmington Fire Department
Farmington · volunteer
Inver Grove Heights Fire Department
Inver Grove Heights · volunteer
Lakeville Fire Department
Lakeville · volunteer
Mendota Heights Fire Department
Mendota Heights · volunteer
All MN departments →

Nationwide career peers near 21 personnel

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