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Risk & Response

Ward County, ND

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 68.6 Relatively High

68,973
Population
18
Departments
26
Stations
16
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
1.55
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
2nd highest of 53
Life Safety per 100k
2.25
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
33rd highest of 53
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$14.1M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
5th highest of 53
Property Loss per Resident
$204
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
52nd highest of 53

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 Ward County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 80% of the life-safety total.

Ward County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $14.1M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 53 North Dakota counties. Nationally, Ward County ranks 378th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 503rd for life safety per 100k residents, 1184th for property loss, and 2730th 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 Ward 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 Ward County.

Talk to us about Ward County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

38%
58%
Property (buildings): $14.1M (38.2%)
Life safety: $21.3M (57.8%)
Agriculture: $1.5M (4.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $36,831,773 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
$17.1M
Tornado
$1.7M
Winter Weather
$1.4M
Strong Wind
$431K
Ice Storm
$246K
Heat Wave
$200K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$7.9M
Tornado
$1.6M
Hail
$1.4M
Winter Weather
$1.2M
Ice Storm
$698K
Strong Wind
$667K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Ward 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

11%
83%
Career: 11% (2)
Combination: 6% (1)
Volunteer: 83% (15)
Residents per Station
2,653
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
37.7
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 18 departments registered in NERIS Public for Ward County, ND. 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 Ward 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 18 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Minot Fire Department 62,144 $19.2M Relatively High 10
Minot Rural Fire Protection District 62,144 $19.2M Relatively High 2
Max Rural Fire Protection District 13,761 $5.8M Very High 1
Ryder-Makoti Fire Department 10,801 $5.4M Very High 1
Glenburn Fire Protection District 15,031 $4.8M Relatively High 1
Burlington Rural Fire Department 14,733 $4.6M Relatively High 1
Plaza Fire Protection District 12,198 $4.5M Very High 1
Kenmare Rural Fire District 11,181 $3.6M Relatively High 1
Donnybrook Fire Department 9,025 $2.9M Relatively High 1
Velva Fire Department 9,003 $2.9M Very High 1
Velva Rural Fire District 9,003 $2.9M Very High 0
Carpio Fire Protection District 9,014 $2.8M Relatively High 1
Surrey Fire Protection District 8,555 $2.7M Relatively High 1
Deering Rural Fire Protection District 7,163 $2.3M Relatively High 1
Des Lacs Fire Protection District 5,297 $1.7M Very High 1
Douglas Fire Protection District 5,297 $1.7M Very High 1
Tolley Volunteer Fire Department 4,255 $1.3M Relatively High 1
Minot Air Force Base Fire Emergency Services 3,528 $1.1M Relatively Low 0
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.6%
Poverty Rate
14.0%
Age 65+
14.3%
Disability Rate
6.4%
Uninsured
46.1%
Pre-1980 Housing
8.2%
Mobile Homes
12.1%
Vacancy Rate
0.3%
Wood Heat
$81,022
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
15
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.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo