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Risk & Response

Shelby County, AL

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 63.3 Relatively High

230,211
Population
32
Departments
109
Stations
55
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
2.42
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
4th highest of 67
Life Safety per 100k
1.05
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
29th highest of 67
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$72.4M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
5th highest of 67
Property Loss per Resident
$315
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
33rd highest of 67

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 Shelby County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 52% of the life-safety total.

Shelby County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $72.4M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 67 Alabama counties. Nationally, Shelby County ranks 232nd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1651st for life safety per 100k residents, 298th for property loss, and 1741st 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 Shelby County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Shelby County.

Talk to us about Shelby County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

68%
31%
Property (buildings): $72.4M (68.5%)
Life safety: $33.1M (31.3%)
Agriculture: $225K (0.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $105,774,723 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)

Tornado
$17.3M
Cold Wave
$6.7M
Heat Wave
$3.3M
Inland Flooding
$2.1M
Lightning
$1.5M
Strong Wind
$1.4M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$53.5M
Tornado
$14.7M
Earthquake
$2.6M
Hurricane
$432K
Hail
$388K
Wildfire
$257K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Shelby County. 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

28%
19%
50%
Career: 28% (9)
Combination: 19% (6)
Volunteer: 50% (16)
Unreported: 3% (1)
Residents per Station
2,112
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
47.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 32 departments registered in NERIS Public for Shelby County, AL. 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 Shelby County. 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 32 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Rex Lake Fire District 524,957 $59.7M Relatively Moderate 0
Birmingham Fire And Rescue Service Department 200,845 $23.3M Relatively Moderate 32
North Shelby County Fire And Emergency Medical District 158,621 $21.4M Relatively High 3
Hoover Fire Department 81,212 $9.8M Relatively High 13
Alabaster Fire Department 35,029 $4.9M Relatively Moderate 6
Saginaw Volunteer Fire Department 35,029 $4.9M Relatively Moderate 1
Jemison Fire Department 37,719 $4.7M Relatively Moderate 2
Pelham Fire Department 24,015 $4.1M Relatively High 9
Fourmile Fire And Rescue 24,484 $3.3M Relatively High 1
Cahaba Valley Fire & Emergency Medical Rescue District 22,464 $3.1M Relatively Moderate 4
Helena Fire Department 23,469 $3.0M Relatively Moderate 5
Green Pond Fire & Rescue Service 23,033 $2.6M Relatively Moderate 3
Childersburg Fire & Rescue 19,326 $2.6M Relatively High 1
Calera Fire & Rescue 17,870 $2.3M Relatively Moderate 3
Chelsea Fire And Rescue 14,259 $1.8M Relatively High 3
Brierfield Fire And Rescue 12,462 $1.6M Relatively Moderate 3
Leeds Fire Department 12,619 $1.3M Relatively Moderate 2
Montevallo Fire & Rescue 6,642 $856.7K Relatively Moderate 2
Columbiana Fire Department 5,483 $620.9K Relatively High 2
Indian Ford Fire District 5,089 $591.4K Relatively Low 1
Shelby Volunteer Fire Department 4,025 $537.1K Very High 3
Vincent Volunteer Fire Department 2,048 $308.1K Very High 1
City Of Westover Fire Deparment 2,275 $275.5K Relatively High 1
Westover Volunteer Fire And Rescue 2,275 $275.5K Relatively High 1
Wilsonville Fire Department 1,987 $265.1K Relatively High 0
Harpersville Fire Department 1,957 $258.1K Relatively Moderate 1
West Shelby Fire & Rescue District, Inc. 1,934 $233.3K Relatively Moderate 2
Kingdom Volunteer Fire Department 1,511 $199.1K Relatively High 1
County 17 Fire & Rescue 1,351 $169.6K Relatively Low 1
Dry Valley Fire And Rescue 1,000 $140.7K Relatively Moderate 1
Dunnavant Volunteer Fire Department 836 $124.5K Relatively Low 0
Summer Hill Volunteer Fire Department 904 $108.3K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

7.2%
Poverty Rate
16.8%
Age 65+
12.2%
Disability Rate
6.4%
Uninsured
16.4%
Pre-1980 Housing
7.4%
Mobile Homes
5.6%
Vacancy Rate
0.2%
Wood Heat
$106,018
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

8
Last 10 Years
16
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

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