Department profile

VolunteerEMS Provider

South Portland Fire Department - Central

South Portland, ME · Cumberland County. South Portland Fire Department - Central is a Volunteer department, 6 stations and 162 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.

162
Total personnel
6
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

South Portland Fire Department - Central pairs top-5% national personnel with a headcount more than double the Maine average.

Top 2%
national personnel size
+671%
vs. Maine average
6
stations
$3,640,083
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
64/100
South Portland Fire Department - Central

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
27 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 B
$22,470 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
162 personnel · 6 stations

South Portland Fire Department - Central is a Volunteer department serving South Portland, ME (Cumberland County), with 6 stations and 162 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #352 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $3,640,083.

  • National personnel rank #352 of 22,440
  • ME personnel rank #3 of 290
  • 3.70 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 46 other listed departments in Cumberland County

South Portland Fire Department - Central vs. the national personnel distribution

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

162 Top 2% higher than 98% 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 C0240 · South Portland Fire Department - Central, ME 162 personnel · 6 stations

PERS-MID · STA-MULTI · TYPE-VOL · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-MID 162
  • STA-MULTI 6 stations
  • TYPE-VOL Volunteer
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #352
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Odessa Fire Depar…
  • FEMA-MID $3.6M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Odessa Fire Department - Central Station, TX (+ 0 personnel)

Volunteer 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 ME department.

Department Profile

Type
MOSTLY VOLUNTEER
Location
South Portland, ME
FDID
C0240

FEMA Grant History

$3.6M
Cumulative funding (FY2011–2024)
7
Awards
Year Award Amount
2024 EMW-2024-FG-01474 $167,741.8
2021 EMW-2021-FG-03292 $200,409.09
2019 EMW-2019-FG-02893 $227,273
2019 EMW-2019-FG-03409 $204,290.01
2017 EMW-2017-FV-01418 $681,819
2012 EMW2012FH00832 $1,111,188
2011 EMW2010FH00982 $1,047,362

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

Staffing vs the Maine average

How South Portland Fire Department - Central's personnel count compares to the typical department in Maine. In-state it ranks #3 of 290 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #352 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 671% above the state average
Stations
6
State fire deaths/yr
20
ME departments
497

County roster fringe

South Portland Fire Department - Central is 8.6% of Cumberland County roster mass

The county lists 59 departments totaling 1,886 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 58% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.

3.70 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (6 stations / 162 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Odessa Fire Department - Central Station, TX (+0 personnel).

Nationwide volunteer peers near 162 personnel

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