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Risk & Response

Butte County, CA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 66.1 Relatively High

207,929
Population
7
Departments
35
Stations
54
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
0.85
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
40th highest of 58
Life Safety per 100k
0.41
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
48th highest of 58
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$89.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
34th highest of 58
Property Loss per Resident
$428
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
44th highest of 58

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 Butte County, the largest single contributor is Earthquake, 73% of the life-safety total.

Butte County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $89.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 58 California counties. Nationally, Butte County ranks 684th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2747th for life safety per 100k residents, 248th for property loss, and 1099th 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 Butte 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 Butte County.

Talk to us about Butte County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

70%
9%
21%
Property (buildings): $89.0M (70.0%)
Life safety: $11.6M (9.1%)
Agriculture: $26.6M (20.9%)

Total expected annual loss: $127,170,653 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.

Agriculture is 21% of expected annual loss in Butte County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

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)

Earthquake
$8.5M
Heat Wave
$1.4M
Wildfire
$892K
Lightning
$380K
Landslide
$180K
Tornado
$98K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$48.2M
Earthquake
$25.0M
Wildfire
$15.2M
Tornado
$289K
Landslide
$208K
Hail
$85K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Butte 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

29%
43%
14%
14%
Career: 29% (2)
Combination: 43% (3)
Volunteer: 14% (1)
Unreported: 14% (1)
Residents per Station
5,941
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
16.8
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 7 departments registered in NERIS Public for Butte County, CA. 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 Butte 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 7 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Camptonville Fire Department 170,248 $14.7M Relatively High 1
Butte County Fire Department 209,148 $11.6M Relatively High 22
City of Chico Fire Department 102,963 $5.8M Relatively Moderate 7
Oroville Fire Department 17,986 $799.0K Relatively High 1
Gridley City Fire Department 7,119 $605.2K Very High 1
Paradise Fire Department 9,488 $443.0K Relatively Low 2
Hamilton City FPD 2,855 $399.5K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

19.2%
Poverty Rate
18.4%
Age 65+
16.3%
Disability Rate
6.4%
Uninsured
48.6%
Pre-1980 Housing
10.3%
Mobile Homes
10.2%
Vacancy Rate
7.0%
Wood Heat
$72,613
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

21
Last 10 Years
28
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