Department profile
Career (Paid)EMS ProviderHoward County Fire Department
Columbia, MD · Howard County. Howard County Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 11 stations and 982 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.
- 982
- Total personnel
- 11
- Stations
- Not reported
- Fire trucks
- Yes
- EMS service
The verdict
Howard County Fire Department pairs top-1% national personnel with a headcount more than double the Maryland average.
- Top 1%
- national personnel size
- +967%
- vs. Maryland average
- 11
- 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.
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.
Howard County Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Columbia, MD (Howard County), with 11 stations and 982 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #24 of 22,440.
- National personnel rank #24 of 22,440
- MD personnel rank #5 of 179
- 1.12 stations per 100 personnel
- EMS provider (HIFLD)
- 4 other listed departments in Howard County
Howard County Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution
Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department
982 Top 1% higher than 99%+ 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 13011 · Howard County Fire Department, MD 982 personnel · 11 stations
PERS-LARGE · STA-MULTI · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-FULL
- PERS-LARGE 982
- STA-MULTI 11 stations
- TYPE-CAREER Career
- EMS-Y EMS on file
- RANK-TOP #24
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Kansas City Misso…
- FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
- BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields
Nearest personnel peer: Kansas City Missouri Fire Department, MO (+ 26 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 MD department.
- High Oklahoma City, OK 1,031
- Near Cleveland, OH 1,028
- Near San Diego Fire -…, CA 1,018
- Near Kansas City Misso…, MO 1,008
- Howard County (this dept) 982
Department Profile
- Type
- MOSTLY CAREER
- Location
- Columbia, MD
- County
- Howard County
- FDID
- 13011
Staffing vs the Maryland average
How Howard County Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Maryland. In-state it ranks #5 of 179 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #24 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.
- Stations
- 11
- State fire deaths/yr
- 67
- MD departments
- 379
County roster weight
Howard County Fire Department carries 78.1% of Howard County HIFLD personnel
Among 6 listed departments (1,258 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 50% of the county count. County / state rollup.
1.12 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (11 stations / 982 roster).
Photo-finish peer: Kansas City Missouri Fire Department, MO (+26 personnel).
No FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on this FDID in USAspending (empty federal book).
Nearby Departments
Nationwide career peers near 982 personnel
Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every MD department.