Department profile

Career (Paid)

Van Buren Fire Department

Van Buren, AR · Crawford County. Van Buren Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 3 stations and 35 total personnel. According to the HIFLD fire-station federal registry (as of 2026-09), full equipment, coverage, and staffing data are below.

35
Total personnel
3
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Not reported
EMS service

The verdict

Van Buren Fire Department pairs above-median national personnel with a headcount more than double the Arkansas average.

Top 36%
national personnel size
+169%
vs. Arkansas average
3
stations
$782,924
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.

D
PlainFireData Composite Score
37/100
Van Buren 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 F
11.7 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 B
$22,369 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
35 personnel · 3 stations

Van Buren Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Van Buren, AR (Crawford County), with 3 stations and 35 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #8,183 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $782,924.

  • National personnel rank #8,183 of 22,440
  • AR personnel rank #74 of 604
  • 8.57 stations per 100 personnel
  • 3 other listed departments in Crawford County

Van Buren Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

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

35 Top 36% higher than 64% 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 17008 · Van Buren Fire Department, AR 35 personnel · 3 stations

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

  • PERS-SMALL 35
  • STA-FEW 3 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-UNK EMS pending
  • RANK-UPPER #8,183
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Chateaugay Fire C…
  • FEMA-MID $783K
  • BOOK-FULL 4/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Chateaugay Fire Company Incorporated, NY (+ 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 AR department.

Department Profile

Type
PAID
Location
Van Buren, AR
FDID
17008

FEMA Grant History

$783K
Cumulative funding (FY2019)
2
Awards
Year Award Amount
2019 EMW-2019-FF-01336 $488,457.61
2019 EMW-2019-FG-09237 $294,466.35

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

Staffing vs the Arkansas average

How Van Buren Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Arkansas. In-state it ranks #74 of 604 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #8,183 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 169% above the state average
Stations
3
State fire deaths/yr
68
AR departments
1,168

County staffing outlier

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

County mix is mostly volunteer (10 volunteer / 1 career / 0 combination), while this page is typed career. County / state rollup.

8.57 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (3 stations / 35 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Chateaugay Fire Company Incorporated, NY (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Alma Fire Department
Alma · other
Alma Volunteer Fire Department
Alma · volunteer
Dyer Fire Station
Dyer · other
All AR departments →

Nationwide career peers near 35 personnel

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

Chateaugay Fire Company Incorporated, NY 35 Irvona Volunteer Fire Company Incorporated, PA 35 Lost Creek Volunteer Fire Department, WV 35 Reynoldsville Volunteer Fire Department, WV 35 Broadview Heights Fire Department, OH 35 Elma Volunteer Fire Company, NY 35 Artesia Fire and Emergency Medical Services, NM 35 Mill Valley Fire Department, CA 35

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Van Buren Fire Department have?

Van Buren Fire Department has 35 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 169% above the Arkansas average of 13 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #8,183 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within AR, it ranks #74 of 604 by personnel.

Does Van Buren Fire Department provide EMS services?

EMS capability is not specified for Van Buren Fire Department in the HIFLD database.

How many fire stations does Van Buren Fire Department operate?

Van Buren Fire Department operates 3 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Van Buren Fire Department?

Van Buren Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Crawford County, AR. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Van Buren Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Van Buren Fire Department has received 2 FEMA grants totaling $782,923.96 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2019 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2019.

How many fire departments are in Arkansas?

Arkansas has 1,168 fire departments with 15,469 total personnel. 71% 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.