Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Rockbridge County, VA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 62.5 Relatively High

22,531
Population
10
Departments
12
Stations
6
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
0.11
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
61st highest of 133
Life Safety per 100k
0.51
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
24th highest of 133
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$7.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
52nd highest of 133
Property Loss per Resident
$325
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
21st highest of 133

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 Rockbridge County, the largest single contributor is Lightning, 34% of the life-safety total.

Rockbridge County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $7.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 133 Virginia counties. Nationally, Rockbridge County ranks 2524th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2527th for life safety per 100k residents, 1838th for property loss, and 1671st 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 Rockbridge 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 Rockbridge County.

Talk to us about Rockbridge County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

80%
17%
Property (buildings): $7.3M (80.2%)
Life safety: $1.6M (17.1%)
Agriculture: $240K (2.6%)

Total expected annual loss: $9,116,684 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)

Lightning
$526K
Cold Wave
$378K
Strong Wind
$268K
Inland Flooding
$102K
Hail
$69K
Tornado
$63K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$6.5M
Hurricane
$391K
Earthquake
$93K
Strong Wind
$86K
Tornado
$72K
Wildfire
$48K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Rockbridge 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

10%
90%
Combination: 10% (1)
Volunteer: 90% (9)
Residents per Station
1,878
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
53.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 10 departments registered in NERIS Public for Rockbridge County, VA. 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 Rockbridge 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 10 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Raphine Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. 15,724 $1.3M Relatively High 1
City Of Lexington Fire Department 13,886 $894.7K Relatively Moderate 2
Buena Vista Fire Department 14,541 $874.9K Relatively Moderate 1
Rockbridge Baths Volunteer Fire Department 4,764 $341.8K Very High 1
Glasgow Volunteer Fire Department 2,818 $188.6K Relatively High 2
South River District Volunteer Fire Department 2,406 $169.5K Relatively High 1
Natural Bridge Volunteer Fire Department 1,670 $132.7K Relatively Moderate 1
Kerrs Creek Volunteer Fire Department 1,382 $98.7K Relatively High 1
Walkers Creek Fire-Ems 348 $21.3K Relatively High 1
Montebello Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad 202 $9.3K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

7.5%
Poverty Rate
27.4%
Age 65+
19.5%
Disability Rate
4.8%
Uninsured
49.5%
Pre-1980 Housing
10.9%
Mobile Homes
15.9%
Vacancy Rate
15.0%
Wood Heat
$66,880
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

4
Last 10 Years
10
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
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