Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Valparaiso Fire Department

Valparaiso, IN · Porter County. Valparaiso Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 2 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
2
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Valparaiso Fire Department pairs top-quartile national personnel with a headcount more than double the Indiana average.

Top 16%
national personnel size
+130%
vs. Indiana average
2
stations
$1,183,650
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
63/100
Valparaiso 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
26.5 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
$22,333 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
53 personnel · 2 stations

Valparaiso Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Valparaiso, IN (Porter County), with 2 stations and 53 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #3,515 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $1,183,650.

  • National personnel rank #3,515 of 22,440
  • IN personnel rank #65 of 589
  • 3.77 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 19 other listed departments in Porter County

Valparaiso 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 64016 · Valparaiso Fire Department, IN 53 personnel · 2 stations

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

  • PERS-MID 53
  • STA-FEW 2 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-UPPER #3,515
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Valley Inn Volunt…
  • FEMA-MID $1.2M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Valley Inn Volunteer Fire Department, 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 IN department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
Valparaiso, IN
FDID
64016

FEMA Grant History

$1.2M
Cumulative funding (FY2019)
1
Awards
Year Award Amount
2019 EMW-2019-FF-00895 $1,183,650

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

Staffing vs the Indiana average

How Valparaiso Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Indiana. In-state it ranks #65 of 589 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #3,515 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 130% above the state average
Stations
2
State fire deaths/yr
94
IN departments
969

County roster fringe

Valparaiso Fire Department is 8.3% of Porter County roster mass

The county lists 23 departments totaling 640 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 61% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.

3.77 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (2 stations / 53 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Valley Inn Volunteer Fire Department, PA (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Beverly Shores Volunteer Fire Department
Michigan City · volunteer
Burns Harbor Fire Department
Burns Harbor · volunteer
Chesterton Fire Department
Chesterton · volunteer
Hebron Fire Department
Hebron · volunteer
Indiana Dunes Lakeshore Fire Management
Chesterton · volunteer
Kouts Volunteer Fire Department
Kouts · volunteer
Mittal Steel Fire Department
Burns Harbor · other
All IN departments →

Nationwide career peers near 53 personnel

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

Valley Inn Volunteer Fire Department, PA 53 Germantown Fire Department, WI 53 Greenville Fire Company, NY 53 Plymouth Volunteer Fire Department, WI 53 Fort Polk Fire Department, LA 53 Northern Lakes Fire Protection District, ID 53 East Brentwood Fire Department, NY 53 Santa Maria Fire Department, CA 53

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Valparaiso Fire Department have?

Valparaiso Fire Department has 53 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 130% above the Indiana average of 23 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #3,515 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within IN, it ranks #65 of 589 by personnel.

Does Valparaiso Fire Department provide EMS services?

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

How many fire stations does Valparaiso Fire Department operate?

Valparaiso Fire Department operates 2 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Valparaiso Fire Department?

Valparaiso Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Porter County, IN. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Valparaiso Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Valparaiso Fire Department has received 1 FEMA grant totaling $1,183,650 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2019 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2019.

How many fire departments are in Indiana?

Indiana has 969 fire departments with 21,919 total personnel. 55% 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.