Department profile

VolunteerEMS Provider

Bison Volunteer Fire Department

Bison, SD · Perkins County. Bison Volunteer Fire Department is a Volunteer department, 1 station and 20 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.

20
Total personnel
1
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Bison Volunteer Fire Department pairs modest national personnel with a headcount in line with the South Dakota average.

25th pct.
national personnel size
+0%
vs. South Dakota average
1
station

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
38/100
Bison Volunteer 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 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
20 personnel · 1 station

Bison Volunteer Fire Department is a Volunteer department serving Bison, SD (Perkins County), with 1 station and 20 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #16,720 of 22,440.

  • National personnel rank #16,720 of 22,440
  • SD personnel rank #196 of 257
  • 5.00 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 4 other listed departments in Perkins County

Bison Volunteer Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

20 Top 75% higher than 25% 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 53001 · Bison Volunteer Fire Department, SD 20 personnel · 1 station

PERS-SMALL · STA-1 · TYPE-VOL · EMS-Y · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-SMALL 20
  • STA-1 1 station
  • TYPE-VOL Volunteer
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-LOWER #16,720
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Nowata
  • FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
  • BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Nowata Fire Department, OK (+ 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 SD department.

Department Profile

Type
VOLUNTEER
Location
Bison, SD
FDID
53001

Staffing vs the South Dakota average

How Bison Volunteer Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in South Dakota. In-state it ranks #196 of 257 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #16,720 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 0% above the state average
Stations
1
State fire deaths/yr
17
SD departments
365

County roster weight

Bison Volunteer Fire Department carries 41.7% of Perkins County HIFLD personnel

Among 6 listed departments (48 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 33% of the county count. County / state rollup.

5.00 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (1 station / 20 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Nowata Fire Department, OK (+0 personnel).

No FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on this FDID in USAspending (empty federal book).

Nearby Departments

Lemmon Fire Department
Lemmon · volunteer
Lodgepole Fire Department
Lodgepole · other
Meadow Fire Department
Meadow · other
Prairie City Fire Department
Prairie City · other
All SD departments →

Nationwide volunteer peers near 20 personnel

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