Department profile

Other

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard

Howard, KS · Elk County. Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard is a fire department, 6 stations and 56 total personnel. According to the HIFLD fire-station federal registry (as of 2026-09), full equipment, coverage, and staffing data are below.

56
Total personnel
6
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Not reported
EMS service

The verdict

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard pairs top-quartile national personnel with a headcount more than double the Kansas average.

Top 13%
national personnel size
+155%
vs. Kansas average
6
stations

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.

F
PlainFireData Composite Score
8/100
Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard

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 F
9.3 personnel per station (national median 23.5)
Equipment readiness
No vehicle count on file for this department
EMS integration
Not an EMS-capable department (USFA registry)
Federal investment
No FEMA AFG grant award on file for this department
56 personnel · 6 stations

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard is a fire department serving Howard, KS (Elk County), with 6 stations and 56 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #2,984 of 22,440.

  • National personnel rank #2,984 of 22,440
  • KS personnel rank #34 of 431
  • 10.71 stations per 100 personnel
  • 6 other listed departments in Elk County

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard vs. the national personnel distribution

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

56 Top 13% higher than 87% 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 EK406 · Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard, KS 56 personnel · 6 stations

PERS-MID · STA-MULTI · TYPE-OTHER · EMS-UNK · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-PART

  • PERS-MID 56
  • STA-MULTI 6 stations
  • TYPE-OTHER Uncoded type
  • EMS-UNK EMS pending
  • RANK-UPPER #2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Addison
  • FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
  • BOOK-PART 3/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Addison Fire Department, TX (+ 0 personnel)

Instrument codes from this department’s HIFLD personnel and station counts, staffing type, EMS flag, listable personnel rank, photo-finish peer department, FEMA AFG/SAFER book, and field completeness, not a readiness rating.

Personnel neighbourhood

Nationwide HIFLD headcount poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every KS department.

Department Profile

Type
Location
Howard, KS
FDID
EK406

Staffing vs the Kansas average

How Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard's personnel count compares to the typical department in Kansas. In-state it ranks #34 of 431 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #2,984 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 155% above the state average
Stations
6
State fire deaths/yr
45
KS departments
773

County roster weight

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard carries 41.2% of Elk County HIFLD personnel

Among 7 listed departments (136 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 0% of the county count. County / state rollup.

10.71 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (6 stations / 56 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Addison Fire Department, TX (+0 personnel).

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

Nearby Departments

Elk Falls Fire Department
Elk Falls · other
Grenola Fire Department
Grenola · other
Howard Fire Department
Howard · other
Longton Fire Department
Longton · other
Moline Fire Department
Moline · other
All KS departments →

Nationwide departments near 56 personnel

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

Addison Fire Department, TX 56 Belleville Fire Department, IL 56 Cary Fire Protection District, IL 56 Homer Township Fire Protection District, IL 56

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard have?

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard has 56 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 155% above the Kansas average of 22 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #2,984 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within KS, it ranks #34 of 431 by personnel.

Does Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard provide EMS services?

EMS capability is not specified for Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard in the HIFLD database.

How many fire stations does Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard operate?

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard operates 6 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard?

Elk County Rural Fire District - Howard is a fire department serving Elk County, KS.

How many fire departments are in Kansas?

Kansas has 773 fire departments with 16,728 total personnel. 0% 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.