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Risk & Response

El Paso County, CO

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 38.0 Relatively Low

742,999
Population
26
Departments
109
Stations
167
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
3.59
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
5th highest of 64
Life Safety per 100k
0.48
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
59th highest of 64
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$167.2M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
3rd highest of 64
Property Loss per Resident
$225
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
56th highest of 64

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 El Paso County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 31% of the life-safety total.

El Paso County carries an expected 4 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $167.2M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 64 Colorado counties. Nationally, El Paso County ranks 139th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2582nd for life safety per 100k residents, 118th for property loss, and 2552nd 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 El Paso 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 El Paso County.

Talk to us about El Paso County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

77%
23%
Property (buildings): $167.2M (77.1%)
Life safety: $49.2M (22.7%)
Agriculture: $387K (0.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $216,743,992 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
$15.3M
Inland Flooding
$6.7M
Lightning
$5.9M
Winter Weather
$5.0M
Avalanche
$4.6M
Cold Wave
$3.7M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$98.4M
Wildfire
$39.2M
Hail
$16.3M
Tornado
$10.0M
Earthquake
$1.4M
Strong Wind
$1.1M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in El Paso 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

31%
42%
27%
Career: 31% (8)
Combination: 42% (11)
Volunteer: 27% (7)
Residents per Station
6,817
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
14.7
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 26 departments registered in NERIS Public for El Paso County, CO. 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 El Paso 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 26 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Colorado Springs Fire Department 491,445 $29.6M Relatively Low 38
Falcon Fire Protection District 124,018 $23.9M Relatively Moderate 10
Monument Fire District 51,548 $3.8M Relatively High 6
Ellicott Fire Protection District 34,986 $3.2M Relatively High 3
Palmer Lake Volunteer Fire Department 21,471 $3.2M Very High 1
Security Fire Department 45,917 $3.0M Relatively Moderate 7
Manitou Springs Fire Department 4,957 $1.7M Very High 3
Fountain Fire Department 30,218 $1.6M Relatively Moderate 3
Usaf Academy Fire & Emergency Services 6,894 $901.7K Relatively Moderate 4
Cheyenne Mountain A.F.S. Fire Department 3,434 $712.5K Relatively High 1
Cimarron Hills Fire Department 15,783 $704.0K Relatively Low 3
Black Forest Fire Rescue Protection District 9,901 $636.2K Relatively High 2
Stratmoor Hills Fire Protection District 5,971 $439.4K Relatively High 1
Green Mountain Falls/Chipita Park Fire Department 1,239 $424.4K Very High 2
Peyton Fire Protection District 3,435 $321.6K Relatively Moderate 2
Calhan Fire Protection District 2,751 $272.7K Relatively Moderate 2
Cascade Volunteer Fire Department 645 $270.0K Very High 2
Southwestern Highway 115 Fire Protection District 1,218 $238.1K Relatively High 2
Tri-County Fire Protection District 2,509 $234.9K Relatively High 3
Elbert Fire Protection District 2,299 $212.0K Relatively High 3
El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Wildland Fire Division 593 $205.6K Very High 1
Big Sandy Fire Protection District 1,858 $196.2K Relatively Moderate 1
Cripple Creek Fire & Emergency Services 1,587 $168.3K Relatively High 1
Hanover Fire Protection District 2,271 $160.2K Relatively High 7
Schriever Afb Fire Department 885 $45.7K Relatively High 0
Woodmen Valley Fire Protection District 759 $44.7K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.5%
Poverty Rate
14.0%
Age 65+
12.7%
Disability Rate
7.2%
Uninsured
35.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
2.8%
Mobile Homes
4.4%
Vacancy Rate
0.6%
Wood Heat
$100,059
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
14
Last 25 Years
Flood
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.

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