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Risk & Response

New Castle County, DE

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 48.3 Relatively Moderate

577,961
Population
25
Departments
49
Stations
145
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
2.56
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
1st highest of 3
Life Safety per 100k
0.44
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
3rd highest of 3
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$165.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
1st highest of 3
Property Loss per Resident
$286
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
2nd highest of 3

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 New Castle County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 30% of the life-safety total.

New Castle County carries an expected 3 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $165.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 3 Delaware counties. Nationally, New Castle County ranks 213th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2670th for life safety per 100k residents, 122nd for property loss, and 1966th 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 New Castle 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 New Castle County.

Talk to us about New Castle County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

82%
17%
Property (buildings): $165.3M (81.7%)
Life safety: $35.0M (17.3%)
Agriculture: $1.9M (0.9%)

Total expected annual loss: $202,209,234 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
$10.5M
Inland Flooding
$8.6M
Heat Wave
$7.1M
Tornado
$3.2M
Earthquake
$2.1M
Winter Weather
$1.8M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$141.7M
Earthquake
$7.2M
Hurricane
$6.0M
Tornado
$3.7M
Coastal Flooding
$3.7M
Strong Wind
$1.4M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in New Castle 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

80%
8%
8%
Career: 4% (1)
Combination: 80% (20)
Volunteer: 8% (2)
Unreported: 8% (2)
Residents per Station
11,795
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
8.5
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 25 departments registered in NERIS Public for New Castle County, DE. 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 New Castle 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 25 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Wilmington Fire Department 73,392 $5.8M Relatively Moderate 8
Christiana Fire Company 100,435 $5.3M Relatively Moderate 7
Aetna Hose, Hook And Ladder Company 84,723 $4.9M Relatively High 5
American Legion Ambulance Services 64 36,947 $2.9M Relatively Moderate 1
Mill Creek Fire Company 44,989 $2.5M Relatively Moderate 3
Citizens' Hose Company No. 1, Inc. 24,735 $1.9M Relatively Moderate 1
Talleyville Fire Company, Inc. 34,260 $1.8M Relatively Low 1
Volunteer Hose Company Of Middletown 36,977 $1.6M Relatively Moderate 2
Good-Will Fire Company No 1 16,796 $1.5M Relatively Low 1
Claymont Fire Company 31,915 $1.5M Very Low 2
Elsmere Fire Company No 1 13,576 $1.4M Relatively Moderate 1
Odessa Fire Company, Inc. (Station 24) 27,780 $1.3M Relatively Moderate 2
Delaware City Fire Company Station #15 9,774 $1.1M Relatively High 1
Hockessin Fire Company 21,074 $1.1M Relatively High 1
Brandywine Hundred Fire Company No 1 19,675 $1.1M Relatively Low 2
Clayton Fire Company No 1, Inc. 12,213 $968.6K Relatively Moderate 1
Cranston Heights Fire Company 14,336 $771.8K Relatively High 1
Wilmington Manor Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. 12,670 $647.5K Relatively Low 2
Minquas Fire Company No. 1 9,223 $591.7K Relatively Moderate 2
Five Points Fire Company, Inc. 9,327 $585.5K Relatively Moderate 1
Townsend Fire Company 9,273 $428.4K Relatively Low 1
Minquadale Fire Company 8,539 $422.4K Relatively Low 1
Holloway Terrace Volunteer Fire Company 4,635 $318.1K Very Low 2
Port Penn Volunteer Fire Company 1,065 $68.7K Relatively High 0
Belvedere Volunteer Fire Company 632 $35.7K Relatively High 0
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

10.1%
Poverty Rate
17.1%
Age 65+
12.9%
Disability Rate
5.9%
Uninsured
55.7%
Pre-1980 Housing
2.0%
Mobile Homes
5.0%
Vacancy Rate
0.3%
Wood Heat
$98,301
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

4
Last 10 Years
13
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
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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