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Risk & Response

Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 89.6 Very High

95,460
Population
9
Departments
28
Stations
22
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
3.15
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
4th highest of 30
Life Safety per 100k
3.30
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
20th highest of 30
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$59.4M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
4th highest of 30
Property Loss per Resident
$622
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
12th highest of 30

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Fairbanks North Star Borough, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 46% of the life-safety total.

Fairbanks North Star Borough carries an expected 3 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $59.4M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 30 Alaska counties. Nationally, Fairbanks North Star Borough ranks 167th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 257th for life safety per 100k residents, 342nd for property loss, and 547th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Fairbanks North Star Borough enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Fairbanks North Star Borough.

Talk to us about Fairbanks North Star Borough See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

58%
42%
Property (buildings): $59.4M (57.9%)
Life safety: $43.2M (42.1%)
Agriculture: $20K (0.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $102,657,309 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Cold Wave
$19.9M
Earthquake
$17.0M
Landslide
$2.4M
Avalanche
$1.8M
Winter Weather
$999K
Wildfire
$618K

By property loss ($/yr)

Earthquake
$38.4M
Wildfire
$12.1M
Inland Flooding
$7.9M
Winter Weather
$524K
Landslide
$429K
Ice Storm
$40K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Fairbanks North Star Borough. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

44%
33%
22%
Career: 44% (4)
Combination: 33% (3)
Unreported: 22% (2)
Residents per Station
3,409
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
29.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Fairbanks North Star Borough. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 9 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Fairbanks Fire Department 42,630 $20.4M Very High 4
North Star Volunteer Fire Department 43,967 $17.8M Very High 5
University Fire Department 22,194 $9.4M Very High 4
Steese Volunteer Fire Department 17,443 $7.9M Very High 3
Chena-Goldstream Fire & Rescue 18,225 $6.5M Very High 4
Ester Volunteer Fire Department 11,928 $4.3M Very High 1
Fort Wainwright Army Fire & Emergency Services 9,015 $2.4M Very High 5
Fairbanks International Airport Fire And Police Department 1,492 $2.4M Very High 1
North Pole Fire Department 1,724 $807.4K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

6.1%
Poverty Rate
12.7%
Age 65+
14.5%
Disability Rate
9.3%
Uninsured
38.2%
Pre-1980 Housing
2.8%
Mobile Homes
14.8%
Vacancy Rate
3.8%
Wood Heat
$90,588
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

8
Last 10 Years
14
Last 25 Years
Fire
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo