Department profile
Career (Paid)EMS ProviderAmes Fire Department
Ames, IA · Story County. Ames Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 3 stations and 49 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.
- 49
- Total personnel
- 3
- Stations
- Not reported
- Fire trucks
- Yes
- EMS service
The verdict
Ames Fire Department pairs top-quartile national personnel with a headcount more than double the Iowa average.
- Top 18%
- national personnel size
- +145%
- vs. Iowa average
- 3
- stations
- $235,516
- 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.
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.
Ames Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Ames, IA (Story County), with 3 stations and 49 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #4,123 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $235,516.
- National personnel rank #4,123 of 22,440
- IA personnel rank #31 of 589
- 6.12 stations per 100 personnel
- EMS provider (HIFLD)
- 12 other listed departments in Story County
Ames Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution
Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department
49 Top 18% higher than 82% 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 85001 · Ames Fire Department, IA 49 personnel · 3 stations
PERS-SMALL · STA-FEW · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-LIGHT · BOOK-FULL
- PERS-SMALL 49
- STA-FEW 3 stations
- TYPE-CAREER Career
- EMS-Y EMS on file
- RANK-UPPER #4,123
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Rock Creek
- FEMA-LIGHT $236K
- BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields
Nearest personnel peer: Rock Creek Fire Department, ID (+ 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 IA department.
- Ames (this dept) 49
- High Epping Fire Depar…, NH 49
- Near Rock Creek, ID 49
- Near Northview Kodak V…, TN 49
- Near Lagrange Fire and…, KY 49
Department Profile
- Type
- CAREER
- Location
- Ames, IA
- County
- Story County
- FDID
- 85001
FEMA Grant History
| Year | Award | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | EMW-2023-FP-00531 | $235,516.31 |
Source: USAspending.gov (CFDA 97.044 AFG / 97.083 SAFER)
Staffing vs the Iowa average
How Ames Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Iowa. In-state it ranks #31 of 589 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #4,123 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.
- Stations
- 3
- State fire deaths/yr
- 39
- IA departments
- 810
County staffing outlier
Career (Paid) island in a volunteer-heavy Story County
County mix is mostly volunteer (10 volunteer / 1 career / 0 combination), while this page is typed career. County / state rollup.
6.12 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (3 stations / 49 roster).
Photo-finish peer: Rock Creek Fire Department, ID (+0 personnel).
Nearby Departments
Nationwide career peers near 49 personnel
Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every IA department.