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 Lehigh County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 61% of the life-safety total.
Lehigh County carries an expected 4 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $79.4M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 67 Pennsylvania counties. Nationally, Lehigh County ranks 143rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1856th for life safety per 100k residents, 274th for property loss, and 2687th 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 Lehigh 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 Lehigh County.
Talk to us about Lehigh County See what a department seesLoss Breakdown
Total expected annual loss: $128,346,730 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 Lehigh 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 34 departments registered in NERIS Public for Lehigh 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 Lehigh 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 ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allentown Fire Department | 126,814 | $16.4M | Relatively High | 15 |
| Lehigh Township Volunteer Fire Company 1 | 81,303 | $5.9M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Eastern Salisbury Fire Department | 47,837 | $5.7M | Relatively High | 2 |
| Bethlehem Fire Department | 79,883 | $5.5M | Relatively Moderate | 13 |
| Greenawalds Fire Company | 42,837 | $5.4M | Relatively High | 1 |
| Lower Macungie Fire Department | 36,320 | $4.6M | Relatively Moderate | 3 |
| Emmaus Fire Department | 38,739 | $4.1M | Relatively Moderate | 3 |
| Hereford Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. | 28,348 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Diamond Fire Company | 22,483 | $2.3M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Lyons Volunteer Fire Company | 21,013 | $2.1M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Coplay Fire Department | 15,810 | $2.0M | Relatively High | 1 |
| Upper Saucon Township Volunteer Fire Department 1 | 15,402 | $1.8M | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Alburtis Fire Company # 1 | 12,355 | $1.7M | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| Woodlawn Fire Department | 9,222 | $1.2M | Relatively High | 1 |
| Cetronia Fire Company 1 | 8,201 | $1.0M | Relatively High | 1 |
| Catasauqua Fire Department | 6,642 | $916.3K | Very High | 2 |
| Tri-Clover Volunteer Fire Company | 5,982 | $796.5K | Relatively Moderate | 5 |
| Western Salisbury Fire Department | 6,629 | $790.2K | Relatively High | 2 |
| Fogelsville Volunteer Fire Company | 6,358 | $787.8K | Relatively High | 1 |
| Community Fire Company 1 Of North Whitehall Township | 7,028 | $767.9K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Neffs Volunteer Fire Company | 5,639 | $700.4K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Weisenberg Volunteer Fire Department | 5,150 | $629.5K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| New Tripoli Fire Company | 4,391 | $609.6K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Fountain Hill Fire Department | 4,857 | $592.0K | Very High | 1 |
| Slatington Volunteer Fire Department | 4,699 | $589.8K | Relatively Moderate | 3 |
| Coopersburg Fire Company 1 | 7,713 | $565.3K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| East Greenville Fire Company | 6,156 | $560.4K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Lower Milford Township Fire Company No 1 | 3,974 | $521.2K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Goodwill Fire Company #1 | 3,719 | $494.5K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Macungie Volunteer Fire Department | 3,429 | $406.5K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Laurys Station Volunteer Fire Company #1 | 2,475 | $346.9K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Milford Township Volunteer Fire Company #1 | 6,415 | $333.4K | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Han-Le-Co Volunteer Fire Company #1 | 1,883 | $216.0K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Lynnport Community Fire Company 1 | 1,411 | $195.1K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
Risk Snapshot
FEMA Disaster Declarations
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.
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