Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Wausau Fire Department

Wausau, WI · Marathon County. Wausau Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 3 stations and 61 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.

61
Total personnel
3
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

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

Top 11%
national personnel size
+118%
vs. Wisconsin average
3
stations
$3,164,764
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
39/100
Wausau 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
20.3 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
61 personnel · 3 stations

Wausau Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Wausau, WI (Marathon County), with 3 stations and 61 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #2,538 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $3,164,764.

  • National personnel rank #2,538 of 22,440
  • WI personnel rank #48 of 695
  • 4.92 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 21 other listed departments in Marathon County

Wausau Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

61 Top 11% higher than 89% 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 37170 · Wausau Fire Department, WI 61 personnel · 3 stations

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

  • PERS-MID 61
  • STA-FEW 3 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-UPPER #2,538
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Santee
  • FEMA-MID $3.2M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Santee Fire Department, CA (+ 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 WI department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
Wausau, WI
FDID
37170

FEMA Grant History

$0
Cumulative funding (FY2021)
0
Awards
Year Award Amount
2021 EMW-2021-FF-00095 $3,164,763.69

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

Staffing vs the Wisconsin average

How Wausau Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Wisconsin. In-state it ranks #48 of 695 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #2,538 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 118% above the state average
Stations
3
State fire deaths/yr
54
WI departments
961

County staffing outlier

Career (Paid) island in a volunteer-heavy Marathon County

County mix is mostly volunteer (15 volunteer / 1 career / 0 combination), while this page is typed career. County / state rollup.

4.92 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (3 stations / 61 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Santee Fire Department, CA (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Athens Area Fire Department
Athens · other
Hamburg Volunteer Fire Department
Marathon · volunteer
Kronenwetter Fire Department
Mosinee · volunteer
All WI departments →

Nationwide career peers near 61 personnel

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

Santee Fire Department, CA 61 Key Largo Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, FL 61 Placer County Fire Department, CA 61 Forest Park Fire Department, OH 61 Smithfield Fire Department, RI 61 McChord Air Force Base Fire Department-Dod, WA 61 Yuba City Fire Department, CA 61 Middleboro Fire Department, MA 61

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Wausau Fire Department have?

Wausau Fire Department has 61 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 118% above the Wisconsin average of 28 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #2,538 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within WI, it ranks #48 of 695 by personnel.

Does Wausau Fire Department provide EMS services?

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

How many fire stations does Wausau Fire Department operate?

Wausau Fire Department operates 3 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Wausau Fire Department?

Wausau Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Marathon County, WI. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Wausau Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Wausau Fire Department has received 1 FEMA grant totaling $3,164,763.69 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2021 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2021.

How many fire departments are in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin has 961 fire departments with 26,974 total personnel. 68% 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.