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Fire department website design built by a firefighter
Your department’s website has three jobs: bring in new members, show the community what you actually do, and keep 911 calls where they belong. Most department sites were built by a member years ago and do none of them. We build ones that recruit, and we know what a quint is.
Why good departments still come up short.
Not because of the training or the apparatus. Because of what a neighbor finds when they go looking.
Recruiting is the fight now
Volunteer and combination companies are short of members, and career departments are chasing fewer candidates. The person who was finally ready to ask about joining lands on a site where “join” is buried four clicks deep, or missing, and never calls.
The site is a relic
Built by a member years ago, or a free template, or one paragraph on the town’s page. Photos of an engine you sold. The only person who knew the login moved away. It says “nobody’s home” to the community you protect.
The phone rings for the wrong things
Open house dates. Burn permits. Smoke alarm installs. Station tours. Where to get a report. Every one of those is a question a page could answer, so the station line stays free for the calls that matter.
An accessibility deadline is coming
The ADA now requires public departments and fire districts to meet WCAG 2.1 AA: by April 2027 in communities over 50,000, and April 2028 for smaller ones and special districts. Most older department sites don’t come close.
What a department site actually needs.
Not a brochure. These are the pieces that bring in members and earn the town’s trust.
A recruiting page with a path for every member
Volunteer, paid-on-call or career, each with its own next step: “no experience needed, call the station”, or the requirements, physical ability test, test dates and a button to apply. One page, no dead ends.
Apparatus pages worth being proud of
Every engine, truck, squad and ambulance with its own card: what it is, what it carries, what it does. Pride recruits, and a proper page for the new rig helps the next fundraiser.
911 first, every time
“Emergency? Dial 911” at the top of every page, and the station number clearly labelled non-emergency, so the website can never become the way somebody tries to report a fire.
Community, prevention and events
Open house, fire prevention week, smoke alarm programs, station tours, the pancake breakfast. The things that make a department part of the town, dated and easy to find.
Board meetings and public records
Meeting notices, agendas and minutes posted where residents can find them, plus who to ask for a report or records request. The paperwork a public body has to publish, without a hunt.
Accessible, fast, and in two languages
Built to WCAG 2.1 AA: readable contrast, keyboard use, screen-reader labels, captions. Loads fast on any phone, and English and Spanish from one switch.
The sign out front, on every phone.
Every station has a sign that tells the town what’s happening this week. Your website should do the same job for everyone who never drives past — the recruit searching at midnight, the new family in town, the reporter on deadline.
A fire company site we actually built.
Not a template with a patch dropped in. A real, live site for an all-volunteer company, built by one of its own members.
CHFC · Station 3 — Delaware County, PA
An all-volunteer fire company in service since 1896, with an engine, a 100-foot aerial quint and a squad. Like most volunteer companies, it needs new members more than anything else, so the site was built to recruit first. (Shown with the company’s name shortened, at its request.)
- Answer the Call is the first button, and Become a Volunteer sits in the menu on every screen.
- Every kind of member named: interior and exterior firefighters, fire police, support and administrative members.
- “No experience required — we’ll train you”, with four plain steps from calling the station to starting training.
- Engine, quint and squad each on their own card, and a fireground gallery of the company’s own photos.
- 911 in the top bar, the station line labelled non-emergency, and a memorial for the members the company has lost.
- Search data marking it as a fire station, a custom link preview, and a hero video cut from 7.6 MB to 0.9 MB.
What we are not going to do is quote you a number we made up. The site is recent, and we would rather show you exactly what was built than invent a recruiting figure. When the company has a season of real numbers worth publishing, they’ll go on this page.
Know the number before the board meets.
Every project starts with a free mockup, and every build splits 50/50 — half down to start, half to launch. Nothing hourly, nothing hidden, and a written quote your board or council can vote on.
Which one fits?
Departments aren’t all the same size. Here’s where most start.
Working Fire
Home, apparatus, recruiting, community and contact, with a gallery of your own photos. Where most volunteer companies start.
See Working Fire →Second Alarm
Separate recruiting paths for each kind of member, board meetings and records, prevention programs, and every old page carried over.
See Second Alarm →Task Force
Selling company T-shirts, calendars or fundraiser gear? Task Force puts them in a proper online store members and neighbors can buy from on a phone.
See Task Force →Just need a page people can find before the open house? The Attack Line gets one up in about a week, or in 24–72 hours on a rush, for an extra fee. Not sure which fits? Say so on the form and we’ll recommend one.
Every build ships with the 911 notice done right, click-to-call, accessible markup, a recruiting form that never loses a lead, spam protection, English and Spanish, and a written quote and invoice for your board. Standard on every tier — not upsells.
First, get it built.
One-time builds. Every one splits 50/50 — half down to start, half to launch.
The Attack Line
Single-page site + privacy & terms · $500 to start, $500 at launch
- Custom one-page website, plus privacy & terms pages
- Mobile-first, fast-loading build
- Join form + click-to-call the station
- Photo gallery of your own members and rigs
- Google Business Profile checked and corrected
- Rush launch in 24–72 hours available, for an extra fee
- 1 round of revisions · live in about a week
Working Fire
Up to 5 pages · $1,250 to start, $1,250 at launch
- Everything in The Attack Line
- Up to 5 custom pages: home, apparatus, join, community, contact
- A recruiting page that answers what stops people from calling
- Apparatus cards for every rig
- 30 days of free post-launch edits
- 2 rounds of revisions · live in about two weeks
Second Alarm
8–10 pages · $2,250 to start, $2,250 at launch
- Everything in Working Fire, expanded to 8–10 pages
- A recruiting path for each kind of member: volunteer, paid-on-call, career
- Board meetings, agendas, minutes and records requests, easy to keep current
- Prevention and community pages: open house, smoke alarms, burn rules
- Your old pages mapped and redirected, so nothing 404s and search history comes with you
- Schema marking you as a fire station, and Search Console set up
- Search & Rescue migration included free
- 3 rounds of revisions · live in about three weeks
Search & Rescue
Already have a website? We don’t move your domain, and you keep your search history. Every old page forwards to the right place, so nothing 404s and nothing gets lost.
Included free inside Second AlarmThen keep it working.
Month-to-month. No contract, cancel anytime, and you own your site either way.
Standing Watch
Keeps your site running
- Fast, secure hosting + SSL
- Daily backups & security updates
- Edits done for you — new officers, meeting dates, a couple of changes a month
- Uptime monitoring 24/7
- Cancel anytime — you own your site
Running Calls
Keeps it current, and found
- Everything in Standing Watch
- Google Business Profile posts every month: events, open house, recruiting drives
- Text us photos from a call or a drill — we get them on your site
- A recruiting push timed to your academy or test dates
- Monthly numbers — visits, join-form sends and calls from the site
Selling station gear?
Same flat pricing, for the shirts, calendars and fundraiser gear that keep a company going.
Task Force
Store build · $1,750 to start, $1,750 at launch
- Everything in Working Fire, expanded for a store
- A real store — sizes, options and a cart that works on a phone
- Product pages with your photos cleaned up and matched
- Shipping, returns, privacy and terms pages drafted for you
- 2 rounds of revisions · live in about three weeks
Supply Line
Introductory price, going up to $199. Start now and keep $149.
Keeps the store stocked
- Everything in Standing Watch
- New designs and fundraiser items added as you launch them
- Monthly numbers — what sold and where buyers came from
- Cancel anytime — you own your site
Prices are in U.S. dollars and exclude any applicable taxes, domain registration, and third-party service fees. The free mockup is genuinely free with no obligation to buy; it stays our property unless you hire us and pay in full. Full details in our Terms of Service.
Questions chiefs and boards actually ask us.
Can you give us a quote our board or council can vote on?
Will the site meet the ADA accessibility rule?
Are you actually a firefighter?
Who keeps it updated when officers change or the meeting schedule moves?
We already have a site. Do we lose what we have?
Salty Web Co
Round Lake, IL 60073
(224) 225-9268
info@saltywebco.com
saltywebco.com
Where we work
We build for fire departments and companies anywhere in the country. Our fire company client is in Pennsylvania and we’re in Lake County, Illinois. Local departments can meet us at the station; everyone else, by phone or video. Either way the work gets done.
See it before the board votes.
Send us your department’s name and a photo of your rig. We’ll design a homepage around them and show it to you before any money changes hands.
- Send this form. Two minutes, no card, no commitment.
- We respond within one business day and ask what your department needs most.
- Your free mockup is ready within 3 days. Bring it to your next meeting.
Rather talk? Call or text (224) 225-9268.