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Risk & Response

Sullivan County, TN

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 25.4 Relatively Low

160,624
Population
13
Departments
52
Stations
40
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
0.35
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
56th highest of 95
Life Safety per 100k
0.22
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
95th highest of 95
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$23.6M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
13th highest of 95
Property Loss per Resident
$147
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
91st highest of 95

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 Sullivan County, the largest single contributor is Strong Wind, 27% of the life-safety total.

Sullivan County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $23.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 95 Tennessee counties. Nationally, Sullivan County ranks 1381st of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 3140th for life safety per 100k residents, 769th for property loss, and 3113th 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 Sullivan 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 Sullivan County.

Talk to us about Sullivan County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

83%
17%
Property (buildings): $23.6M (82.8%)
Life safety: $4.8M (16.9%)
Agriculture: $102K (0.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $28,535,243 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)

Strong Wind
$1.3M
Earthquake
$950K
Lightning
$865K
Cold Wave
$834K
Tornado
$476K
Inland Flooding
$182K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$20.0M
Earthquake
$2.3M
Tornado
$590K
Strong Wind
$338K
Hurricane
$104K
Hail
$90K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Sullivan 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

15%
77%
Career: 15% (2)
Volunteer: 77% (10)
Unreported: 8% (1)
Residents per Station
3,089
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
32.4
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 13 departments registered in NERIS Public for Sullivan County, TN. 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 Sullivan 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 13 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Johnson City Fire Department 74,599 $3.3M Very Low 20
Kingsport Fire Department 57,877 $2.0M Relatively Low 8
Bristol Tn Fire Department 28,012 $799.5K Very Low 5
Sullivan County Volunteer Fire Department No 1 21,892 $610.9K Relatively Low 2
East Sullivan County Volunteer Fire Department 18,946 $510.9K Relatively Low 3
Avoca Volunteer Fire Department 17,902 $502.4K Relatively Low 2
Watauga Volunteer Fire Department Inc. 5,348 $353.4K Relatively Low 2
Piney Flats Volunteer Fire Department 13,444 $327.4K Relatively Moderate 4
Warriors Path Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 11,723 $319.6K Relatively Moderate 1
Sullivan West Volunteer Fire Department 5,732 $165.7K Relatively Moderate 1
Hickory Tree Volunteer Fire Department 4,401 $121.9K Relatively Low 2
Bluff City Volunteer Fire Department 3,670 $101.4K Relatively Moderate 1
421 Area Emergency Services Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 3,401 $86.4K Relatively Low 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

15.4%
Poverty Rate
22.2%
Age 65+
18.7%
Disability Rate
8.9%
Uninsured
55.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
10.4%
Mobile Homes
9.7%
Vacancy Rate
1.1%
Wood Heat
$61,331
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

6
Last 10 Years
8
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
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