Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Dekalb Fire Department

De Kalb, IL · Dekalb County. Dekalb Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 3 stations and 54 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.

54
Total personnel
3
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

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

Top 15%
national personnel size
+135%
vs. Illinois average
3
stations
$4,864,954
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
62/100
Dekalb 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
18 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 A
$90,092 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
54 personnel · 3 stations

Dekalb Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving De Kalb, IL (Dekalb County), with 3 stations and 54 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #3,330 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $4,864,954.

  • National personnel rank #3,330 of 22,440
  • IL personnel rank #124 of 971
  • 5.56 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 13 other listed departments in Dekalb County

Dekalb Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

54 Top 15% higher than 85% 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 DA121 · Dekalb Fire Department, IL 54 personnel · 3 stations

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

  • PERS-MID 54
  • STA-FEW 3 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-UPPER #3,330
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Clay Volunteer
  • FEMA-MID $4.9M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Clay Volunteer Fire Department, KY (+ 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 IL department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
De Kalb, IL
FDID
DA121

FEMA Grant History

$4.9M
Cumulative funding (FY2020–2024)
3
Awards
Year Award Amount
2024 EMW-2024-FF-00058 $1,892,689.52
2020 EMW-2020-FF-01625 $2,721,256.42
2020 EMW-2020-FG-12778 $251,008

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

Staffing vs the Illinois average

How Dekalb Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Illinois. In-state it ranks #124 of 971 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #3,330 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 135% above the state average
Stations
3
State fire deaths/yr
127
IL departments
1,493

County staffing outlier

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

County mix is mostly volunteer (10 volunteer / 2 career / 0 combination), while this page is typed career. County / state rollup.

5.56 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (3 stations / 54 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Clay Volunteer Fire Department, KY (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Cortland Fire Department
Cortland · volunteer
Dekalb Fire Department
Dekalb · other
Hinckley Fire Protection District
Hinckley · volunteer
Kirkland Fire Protection District
Kirkland · volunteer
Malta Fire Protection District
Malta · volunteer
All IL departments →

Nationwide career peers near 54 personnel

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

Clay Volunteer Fire Department, KY 54 Denison Fire Department - Central Station, TX 54 Dixfield Fire Company, ME 54 Kingsville Fire Department, TX 54 Naval Air Engineering Station Fire Department-Dod, NJ 54 Rosenberg Fire Department, TX 54 City of Edmonds Fire Department Administration, WA 54 Buckley Air Force Base Fire and Emergency Services-Dod, CO 54

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Dekalb Fire Department have?

Dekalb Fire Department has 54 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 135% above the Illinois average of 23 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #3,330 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within IL, it ranks #124 of 971 by personnel.

Does Dekalb Fire Department provide EMS services?

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

How many fire stations does Dekalb Fire Department operate?

Dekalb Fire Department operates 3 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Dekalb Fire Department?

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

Has Dekalb Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Dekalb Fire Department has received 3 FEMA grants totaling $4,864,953.94 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2020–2024 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2024.

How many fire departments are in Illinois?

Illinois has 1,493 fire departments with 34,868 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.