Department profile
VolunteerWest Des Moines Fire Department
West Des Moines, IA · Polk County. West Des Moines Fire Department is a Volunteer department, 4 stations and 94 total personnel. According to the HIFLD fire-station federal registry (as of 2026-09), full equipment, coverage, and staffing data are below.
- 94
- Total personnel
- 4
- Stations
- Not reported
- Fire trucks
- Not reported
- EMS service
The verdict
West Des Moines Fire Department pairs top-5% national personnel with a headcount more than double the Iowa average.
- Top 5%
- national personnel size
- +370%
- vs. Iowa average
- 4
- 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.
West Des Moines Fire Department is a Volunteer department serving West Des Moines, IA (Polk County), with 4 stations and 94 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #1,091 of 22,440.
- National personnel rank #1,091 of 22,440
- IA personnel rank #6 of 589
- 4.26 stations per 100 personnel
- 21 other listed departments in Polk County
West Des Moines Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution
Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department
94 Top 5% higher than 95% 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 77019 · West Des Moines Fire Department, IA 94 personnel · 4 stations
PERS-MID · STA-FEW · TYPE-VOL · EMS-UNK · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-NONE · BOOK-PART
- PERS-MID 94
- STA-FEW 4 stations
- TYPE-VOL Volunteer
- EMS-UNK EMS pending
- RANK-TOP #1,091
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Germantown
- FEMA-NONE No AFG/SAFER
- BOOK-PART 3/5 fields
Nearest personnel peer: Germantown Fire Department, TN (+ 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.
- West Des Moines (this dept) 94
- High Lancaster, OH 94
- Near Germantown, TN 94
- Near City of Newark Di…, OH 94
- Near Plandome, NY 94
Department Profile
- Type
- MOSTLY VOLUNTEER
- Location
- West Des Moines, IA
- County
- Polk County
- FDID
- 77019
Staffing vs the Iowa average
How West Des Moines Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Iowa. In-state it ranks #6 of 589 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #1,091 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.
- Stations
- 4
- State fire deaths/yr
- 39
- IA departments
- 810
County roster fringe
West Des Moines Fire Department is 9.5% 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.
4.26 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (4 stations / 94 roster).
Photo-finish peer: Germantown Fire Department, TN (+0 personnel).
No FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on this FDID in USAspending (empty federal book).
Nearby Departments
Nationwide volunteer peers near 94 personnel
Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every IA department.