Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

South San Francisco Fire Department

South San Francisco, CA · San Mateo County. South San Francisco Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 5 stations and 95 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.

95
Total personnel
5
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

South San Francisco Fire Department pairs top-5% national personnel with a headcount more than double the California average.

Top 5%
national personnel size
+157%
vs. California average
5
stations
$2,560,321
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.

D
PlainFireData Composite Score
23/100
South San Francisco 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
19 personnel per station (national median 23.5)
Equipment readiness F
0.6 vehicles per station (national median 2)
EMS integration
No EMS staffing breakdown on file
Federal investment
No FEMA AFG grant award on file for this department
95 personnel · 5 stations

South San Francisco Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving South San Francisco, CA (San Mateo County), with 5 stations and 95 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #1,067 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $2,560,321.

  • National personnel rank #1,067 of 22,440
  • CA personnel rank #77 of 721
  • 5.26 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 22 other listed departments in San Mateo County

South San Francisco Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

95 Top 5% higher than 95% 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 41095 · South San Francisco Fire Department, CA 95 personnel · 5 stations

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

  • PERS-MID 95
  • STA-FEW 5 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #1,067
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Pocono Township V…
  • FEMA-MID $2.6M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Pocono Township Volunteer Fire Company Incorporated, PA (+ 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
CAREER
Location
South San Francisco, CA
Ambulances
3
FDID
41095

FEMA Grant History

$0
Cumulative funding (FY2009–2018)
0
Awards
Year Award Amount
2018 EMW-2018-FO-04526 $320,536
2009 EMW-2009-FC-0439 $2,239,785

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

Staffing vs the California average

How South San Francisco Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in California. In-state it ranks #77 of 721 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #1,067 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 157% above the state average
Stations
5
State fire deaths/yr
346
CA departments
1,309

County roster geometry

San Mateo County HIFLD mix around South San Francisco Fire Department

San Mateo County: 29 departments, 826 personnel (3 volunteer / 14 career / 0 combination); EMS flag on 93% of departments. County / state rollup.

5.26 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (5 stations / 95 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Pocono Township Volunteer Fire Company Incorporated, PA (+0 personnel).

Nationwide career peers near 95 personnel

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