Department profile
VolunteerEMS ProviderUrbandale Fire Department
Des Moines, IA · Polk County. Urbandale Fire Department is a Volunteer department, 2 stations and 53 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.
- 53
- Total personnel
- 2
- Stations
- Not reported
- Fire trucks
- Yes
- EMS service
The verdict
Urbandale Fire Department pairs top-quartile national personnel with a headcount more than double the Iowa average.
- Top 16%
- national personnel size
- +165%
- vs. Iowa average
- 2
- 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.
Urbandale Fire Department is a Volunteer department serving Des Moines, IA (Polk County), with 2 stations and 53 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #3,513 of 22,440.
- National personnel rank #3,513 of 22,440
- IA personnel rank #22 of 589
- 3.77 stations per 100 personnel
- EMS provider (HIFLD)
- 21 other listed departments in Polk County
Urbandale Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution
Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department
53 Top 16% higher than 84% 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 77018 · Urbandale Fire Department, IA 53 personnel · 2 stations
PERS-MID · STA-FEW · TYPE-VOL · EMS-Y · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-FULL
- PERS-MID 53
- STA-FEW 2 stations
- TYPE-VOL Volunteer
- EMS-Y EMS on file
- RANK-UPPER #3,513
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Copley
- FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
- BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields
Nearest personnel peer: Copley Fire Department, OH (+ 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 IA department.
- Urbandale (this dept) 53
- High Menasha Township, WI 53
- Near Copley, OH 53
- Near Jerome Township D…, OH 53
- Near Madelia Fire Depa…, MN 53
Department Profile
- Type
- MOSTLY VOLUNTEER
- Location
- Des Moines, IA
- County
- Polk County
- FDID
- 77018
Staffing vs the Iowa average
How Urbandale Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Iowa. In-state it ranks #22 of 589 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #3,513 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.
- Stations
- 2
- State fire deaths/yr
- 39
- IA departments
- 810
County roster fringe
Urbandale Fire Department is 5.4% of Polk County roster mass
The county lists 23 departments totaling 985 personnel, so this roster is a small slice; 87% of county departments show EMS coverage. County / state rollup.
3.77 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (2 stations / 53 roster).
Photo-finish peer: Copley Fire Department, OH (+0 personnel).
No FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on this FDID in USAspending (empty federal book).
Nearby Departments
Nationwide volunteer peers near 53 personnel
Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every IA department.