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Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

District of Columbia, DC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 28.4 Relatively Low

681,294
Population
4
Departments
47
Stations
206
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
7.84
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
55th highest of 3222
Life Safety per 100k
1.15
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
1458th highest of 3222
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$185.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
103rd highest of 3222
Property Loss per Resident
$272
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
2089th highest of 3222

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 District of Columbia, the largest single contributor is Earthquake, 45% of the life-safety total.

District of Columbia carries an expected 8 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $185.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare all 3,222 U.S. county-equivalents. 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 District of Columbia enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in District of Columbia.

Talk to us about District of Columbia See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

63%
37%
Property (buildings): $185.0M (63.3%)
Life safety: $107.4M (36.7%)
Agriculture: $0 (0.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $292,473,638 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)

Earthquake
$48.6M
Heat Wave
$39.7M
Cold Wave
$10.4M
Strong Wind
$3.6M
Lightning
$2.2M
Tornado
$967K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$129.4M
Hurricane
$28.3M
Earthquake
$12.5M
Tornado
$6.5M
Hail
$4.1M
Strong Wind
$2.3M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in District of Columbia. 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

50%
50%
Career: 50% (2)
Combination: 50% (2)
Residents per Station
14,496
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
6.9
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 4 departments registered in NERIS Public for District of Columbia, DC. 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 District of Columbia. 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 4 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department 681,294 $107.4M Relatively Low 42
Walter Reed Fire & Emergency Services Division 681,294 $107.4M Relatively Low 0
Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 14,748 $556.1K Relatively Low 0
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Fire & Rescue Department 0 $6.0K Insufficient Data 5
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

15.4%
Poverty Rate
12.8%
Age 65+
11.5%
Disability Rate
3.6%
Uninsured
69.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
0.1%
Mobile Homes
10.1%
Vacancy Rate
0.0%
Wood Heat
$117,631
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

5
Last 10 Years
18
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
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