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Risk & Response

Kalamazoo County, MI

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 22.8 Relatively Low

262,375
Population
15
Departments
44
Stations
68
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
0.84
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
18th highest of 83
Life Safety per 100k
0.32
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
79th highest of 83
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$43.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
10th highest of 83
Property Loss per Resident
$165
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
80th highest of 83

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 Kalamazoo County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 44% of the life-safety total.

Kalamazoo County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $43.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 83 Michigan counties. Nationally, Kalamazoo County ranks 688th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2942nd for life safety per 100k residents, 437th for property loss, and 3023rd 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 Kalamazoo 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 Kalamazoo County.

Talk to us about Kalamazoo County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

79%
21%
Property (buildings): $43.3M (78.6%)
Life safety: $11.6M (21.0%)
Agriculture: $216K (0.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $55,094,157 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
$5.1M
Cold Wave
$4.3M
Heat Wave
$608K
Lightning
$494K
Strong Wind
$484K
Winter Weather
$257K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$27.3M
Tornado
$7.2M
Hail
$5.7M
Strong Wind
$1.9M
Earthquake
$717K
Ice Storm
$238K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Kalamazoo 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

13%
40%
47%
Career: 13% (2)
Combination: 40% (6)
Volunteer: 47% (7)
Residents per Station
5,963
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
16.8
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 15 departments registered in NERIS Public for Kalamazoo County, MI. 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 Kalamazoo 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 15 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Oshtemo Fire Department 91,676 $3.9M Very Low 6
City Of Kalamazoo Department Of Public Safety 72,784 $3.2M Very Low 6
Portage Fire Department 67,558 $3.1M Relatively Low 6
Comstock Charter Township Fire & Rescue 34,255 $1.8M Relatively Low 3
Pavilion Township Fire Department 32,586 $1.8M Relatively Low 3
Kalamazoo Township Fire Department 23,160 $1.0M Very Low 5
South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority 17,475 $780.0K Relatively Low 3
Texas Township Fire Department 18,483 $770.0K Relatively Low 2
Cooper Charter Township Fire Department 10,616 $453.9K Relatively Low 2
Richland Township Fire Department 9,020 $380.7K Very Low 1
Ross-Augusta Fire Department 4,917 $214.3K Relatively Moderate 2
Galesburg-Charleston Fire Department 3,951 $172.7K Relatively Low 2
Alamo Township Fire And Rescue Department 3,875 $166.8K Relatively Low 1
Climax Township Fire Department 2,426 $103.8K Very Low 1
Parchment Fire Department 1,996 $84.0K Very Low 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

12.7%
Poverty Rate
16.1%
Age 65+
11.9%
Disability Rate
4.7%
Uninsured
57.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.4%
Mobile Homes
6.8%
Vacancy Rate
1.1%
Wood Heat
$77,845
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
6
Last 25 Years
Snowstorm
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