Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Waterloo Fire and Rescue

Waterloo, IA · Black Hawk County. Waterloo Fire and Rescue is a Career (Paid) department, 7 stations and 122 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.

122
Total personnel
7
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Waterloo Fire and Rescue pairs top-5% national personnel with a headcount more than double the Iowa average.

Top 3%
national personnel size
+510%
vs. Iowa average
7
stations
$1,682,906
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.

C
PlainFireData Composite Score
41/100
Waterloo Fire and Rescue

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
17.4 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 C
$13,794 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
122 personnel · 7 stations

Waterloo Fire and Rescue is a Career (Paid) department serving Waterloo, IA (Black Hawk County), with 7 stations and 122 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #661 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $1,682,906.

  • National personnel rank #661 of 22,440
  • IA personnel rank #4 of 589
  • 5.74 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 6 other listed departments in Black Hawk County

Waterloo Fire and Rescue vs. the national personnel distribution

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

122 Top 3% higher than 97% 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 07009 · Waterloo Fire and Rescue, IA 122 personnel · 7 stations

PERS-MID · STA-MULTI · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-MID 122
  • STA-MULTI 7 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #661
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ East Haven
  • FEMA-MID $1.7M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: East Haven Fire Department, CT (+ 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 IA department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
Waterloo, IA
FDID
07009

FEMA Grant History

$1.7M
Cumulative funding (FY2005–2019)
4
Awards
Year Award Amount
2019 EMW-2019-FF-00832 $979,961.86
2016 EMW2014FH00136 $158,696
2009 EMW-2009-FO-1028 $331,631
2005 EMW-2005-FG-0628 $212,617

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

Staffing vs the Iowa average

How Waterloo Fire and Rescue's personnel count compares to the typical department in Iowa. In-state it ranks #4 of 589 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #661 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 510% above the state average
Stations
7
State fire deaths/yr
39
IA departments
810

County roster weight

Waterloo Fire and Rescue carries 38.7% of Black Hawk County HIFLD personnel

Among 10 listed departments (315 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 50% of the county count. County / state rollup.

5.74 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (7 stations / 122 roster).

Photo-finish peer: East Haven Fire Department, CT (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Cedar Falls Fire Department
Cedar Falls · career
Evansdale Fire Rescue
Evansdale · volunteer
Gilbertville Volunteer Fire Department
Gilbertville · volunteer
Hudson Volunteer Fire and Rescue
Hudson · volunteer
LA Porte City Fire and Rescue
La Porte City · volunteer
Raymond Volunteer Fire Department
Raymond · volunteer
All IA departments →

Nationwide career peers near 122 personnel

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