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.
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 Berks County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 30% of the life-safety total.
Berks County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $85.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 67 Pennsylvania counties. Nationally, Berks County ranks 258th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2539th for life safety per 100k residents, 262nd for property loss, and 2799th 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 Berks 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 Berks County.
Talk to us about Berks County See what a department seesLoss Breakdown
Total expected annual loss: $119,509,471 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)
By property loss ($/yr)
Census Tract Risk Map
Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Berks 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
Department composition covers the 63 departments registered in NERIS Public for Berks County, PA. 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 Berks 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.
| Department ▲ | Est. Population ▲ | Life-Safety Loss ▼ | NRI Rating ▲ | Stations ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pottstown Fire Department | 72,458 | $7.5M | Relatively Moderate | 4 |
| Reading Department Of Fire & Rescue Services | 96,199 | $6.1M | Relatively Low | 14 |
| Friendship Hook & Ladder Company #1, Inc. | 64,860 | $5.5M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Birdsboro-Union Fire Department | 83,609 | $5.3M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Pennsburg Fire Company #1 | 53,028 | $4.7M | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Fleetwood Volunteer Fire Company #1 | 63,447 | $4.2M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Mount Penn Fire Company 1 | 61,686 | $3.6M | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Cumru Township Fire Department | 60,489 | $3.5M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Hereford Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. | 28,348 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Denver Fire Company 1 | 43,833 | $2.5M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Exeter Township Volunteer Fire Department | 34,796 | $2.4M | Relatively Low | 3 |
| Liberty Fire Company | 45,664 | $2.3M | Relatively High | 3 |
| Keystone Fire Company 1 | 34,901 | $2.1M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Newmanstown Volunteer Fire Company | 34,206 | $2.1M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Lyons Volunteer Fire Company | 21,013 | $2.1M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Fivepointville Fire Department | 41,821 | $1.9M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Ruscombmanor Volunteer Fire Company 1 | 30,990 | $1.9M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Township Of Spring Fire/Rescue Service | 29,468 | $1.8M | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Muhlenberg Township Fire and Rescue | 22,557 | $1.7M | Relatively Moderate | 6 |
| Honey Brook Fire Company | 27,530 | $1.5M | Relatively High | 2 |
| Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company # 1 | 43,237 | $1.4M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Western Berks Fire Department | 21,614 | $1.4M | Relatively Low | 5 |
| Oley Fire Company | 24,392 | $1.3M | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Central Berks Fire Company No. 1 | 14,779 | $1.1M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Greenfields Fire Company Number One | 14,079 | $990.2K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Community Fire Company Of Frystown | 14,788 | $976.1K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Kutztown Fire Department | 12,570 | $973.4K | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Brecknock Township Fire Company #1 | 20,617 | $959.0K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| The Union Fire Company #1 Of Hamburg, Berks County, Pennsylvania | 9,997 | $838.3K | Relatively Moderate | 4 |
| Wyomissing Fire Department | 11,085 | $826.1K | Relatively High | 1 |
| Berks Emergency Strike Team, Inc. | 10,790 | $800.7K | Relatively Low | 0 |
| Boyertown Area Fire & Rescue, Inc | 11,277 | $768.7K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Liberty Fire Company | 11,277 | $768.7K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Eastern Berks Fire Department | 8,646 | $692.8K | Relatively Moderate | 3 |
| Alsace Manor Fire Company | 11,057 | $689.3K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Blandon Fire Company No. 1 | 11,057 | $689.3K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Amity Fire Company | 9,750 | $647.0K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Weisenberg Volunteer Fire Department | 5,150 | $629.5K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Twin Valley Fire Department | 9,752 | $572.6K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Keystone Water Rescue | 6,719 | $560.7K | Relatively High | 2 |
| Topton Volunteer Fire Company #1 | 8,197 | $513.2K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Friendship Fire Company #1 Morgantown | 8,323 | $491.7K | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| Community Volunteer Fire Company Lower Alsace Township | 4,872 | $358.6K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Union Fire Company 1 | 5,116 | $348.7K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Shoemakersville Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 | 3,962 | $348.3K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| West Reading Fire Department | 4,606 | $345.5K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Gibraltar Fire Company | 4,617 | $336.3K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Bernville Community Fire Company | 4,478 | $282.7K | Relatively High | 1 |
| Earl Township Volunteer Fire Company 1 | 3,455 | $258.7K | Relatively High | 1 |
| Central Fire Company | 4,371 | $249.7K | Very Low | 1 |
| Womelsdorf Volunteer Fire Company | 3,679 | $229.2K | Relatively High | 2 |
| Pioneer Hose Company 1 | 3,419 | $214.6K | Relatively High | 2 |
| Kenhorst Volunteer Fire Company 1 | 3,043 | $204.0K | Very Low | 1 |
| Virginville Community Fire Company | 2,869 | $202.1K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Lynnport Community Fire Company 1 | 1,411 | $195.1K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Keystone Fire Company | 2,241 | $141.6K | Relatively High | 2 |
| Mount Pleasant Fire Company | 2,014 | $126.6K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Shartlesville Community Fire Company No.1 | 2,185 | $126.6K | Relatively High | 1 |
| Union Fire Company Of Bethel | 2,036 | $125.6K | Relatively High | 2 |
| Marian Fire Company | 1,875 | $118.3K | Very High | 1 |
| Strausstown Volunteer Fire Company | 1,827 | $112.7K | Relatively High | 1 |
| Community Fire Co. #1 Of Seisholtzville | 1,161 | $85.5K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Mount Aetna Rescue Fire Company 1 | 1,179 | $74.9K | Very Low | 1 |
Risk Snapshot
FEMA Disaster Declarations
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