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 Chester County, the largest single contributor is Heat Wave, 32% of the life-safety total.
Chester County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $124.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 67 Pennsylvania counties. Nationally, Chester County ranks 234th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2681st for life safety per 100k residents, 170th for property loss, and 2512th 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 Chester 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 Chester County.
Talk to us about Chester County See what a department seesLoss Breakdown
Total expected annual loss: $172,609,930 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.
Agriculture is 9% of expected annual loss in Chester County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.
Hazards Ranked Two Ways
The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.
By life-safety loss ($/yr)
By property loss ($/yr)
Census Tract Risk Map
Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Chester 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 42 departments registered in NERIS Public for Chester 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 Chester 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 ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broomall Fire Company | 150,328 | $10.1M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Upper Chichester Fire Department | 93,906 | $5.9M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Phoenixville Fire Department | 77,690 | $5.6M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Longwood Fire Company | 74,529 | $4.3M | Relatively Moderate | 4 |
| East Brandywine Fire Company | 62,422 | $3.8M | Relatively Moderate | 3 |
| Modena Fire Company 1 | 50,998 | $3.7M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| West Chester Fire Department | 51,879 | $3.3M | Relatively Low | 5 |
| Lionville Fire Company | 62,974 | $3.3M | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Avondale Fire Company #1 | 36,344 | $3.0M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| City Of Coatesville Fire Department | 46,320 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate | 3 |
| Cochranville Fire Company | 48,540 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Chester Township Fire Company | 39,711 | $2.6M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Upland Fire Company #1 | 39,711 | $2.6M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Goshen Fire Company | 39,702 | $2.5M | Relatively Low | 4 |
| Kennett Fire Company No 1 | 44,698 | $2.4M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Radnor Fire Company | 37,724 | $2.4M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Liberty Fire Company | 45,664 | $2.3M | Relatively High | 3 |
| Christiana Fire Company | 47,009 | $2.1M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| West Grove Fire Company | 30,154 | $1.9M | Relatively Moderate | 7 |
| Concordville Fire And Protective Association | 29,631 | $1.8M | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Berwyn Fire Company | 29,301 | $1.8M | Relatively Low | 4 |
| Ludwigs Corner Fire Company | 32,096 | $1.7M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Union Fire Company No. 1 | 27,484 | $1.6M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Honey Brook Fire Company | 27,530 | $1.5M | Relatively High | 2 |
| West Whiteland Fire Company | 20,886 | $1.3M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Sadsburyville Fire Company | 25,292 | $1.1M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| East Whiteland Volunteer Fire Association | 19,098 | $1.1M | Relatively Low | 1 |
| West Bradford Fire Company | 16,745 | $995.0K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Newtown Square Fire Company | 15,895 | $950.9K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Downingtown Fire Department | 14,118 | $923.9K | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Paoli Fire Company | 14,071 | $843.7K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Thorndale Volunteer Fire Company | 14,772 | $822.9K | Relatively High | 2 |
| Kimberton Fire Company | 12,953 | $700.1K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Wagontown Volunteer Fire Company | 12,333 | $665.4K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Westwood Fire Company | 11,294 | $637.9K | Relatively High | 5 |
| Twin Valley Fire Department | 9,752 | $572.6K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Friendship Fire Company #1 Morgantown | 8,323 | $491.7K | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| Atglen Fire Department | 8,721 | $486.5K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Parkesburg Fire Company No 1 | 8,721 | $486.5K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Company | 8,996 | $486.4K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Liberty Steam Fire Engine Company 1 | 7,946 | $429.4K | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Coatesville Department Of Veterans Affairs | 194 | $10.4K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
Risk Snapshot
FEMA Disaster Declarations
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