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Risk & Response

Burke County, GA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 59.8 Relatively Moderate

24,470
Population
4
Departments
28
Stations
7
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
0.18
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
71st highest of 159
Life Safety per 100k
0.72
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
58th highest of 159
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$5.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
89th highest of 159
Property Loss per Resident
$218
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
84th highest of 159

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 Burke County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 37% of the life-safety total.

Burke County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $5.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 159 Georgia counties. Nationally, Burke County ranks 2105th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2208th for life safety per 100k residents, 2183rd for property loss, and 2620th 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 Burke 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 Burke County.

Talk to us about Burke County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

57%
26%
17%
Property (buildings): $5.3M (57.4%)
Life safety: $2.4M (26.0%)
Agriculture: $1.5M (16.6%)

Total expected annual loss: $9,274,322 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 17% of expected annual loss in Burke 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)

Tornado
$888K
Heat Wave
$587K
Earthquake
$290K
Cold Wave
$213K
Strong Wind
$168K
Hail
$95K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$2.9M
Hurricane
$1.0M
Earthquake
$674K
Tornado
$438K
Ice Storm
$102K
Strong Wind
$98K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Burke 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

25%
25%
50%
Career: 25% (1)
Combination: 25% (1)
Volunteer: 50% (2)
Residents per Station
874
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
114.4
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 4 departments registered in NERIS Public for Burke County, GA. 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 Burke 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 4 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Emanuel County Rural Fire Department 23,503 $2.1M Relatively Moderate 14
Burke County Emergency Management Agency 18,180 $1.8M Relatively Moderate 12
Waynesboro Fire Department 6,289 $590.5K Relatively High 1
Summertown Volunteer Fire Department 929 $79.8K Relatively Low 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

18.3%
Poverty Rate
17.7%
Age 65+
16.3%
Disability Rate
13.8%
Uninsured
47.6%
Pre-1980 Housing
30.0%
Mobile Homes
18.7%
Vacancy Rate
1.2%
Wood Heat
$57,676
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

13
Last 10 Years
17
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.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo