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Risk & Response

Island County, WA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 59.9 Relatively Moderate

86,836
Population
5
Departments
31
Stations
24
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
0.93
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
20th highest of 39
Life Safety per 100k
1.08
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
19th highest of 39
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$26.5M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
20th highest of 39
Property Loss per Resident
$305
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
30th highest of 39

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 Island County, the largest single contributor is Landslide, 44% of the life-safety total.

Island County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $26.5M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 39 Washington counties. Nationally, Island County ranks 624th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1602nd for life safety per 100k residents, 683rd for property loss, and 1808th 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 Island 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 Island County.

Talk to us about Island County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

67%
33%
Property (buildings): $26.5M (67.4%)
Life safety: $12.8M (32.6%)
Agriculture: $2K (0.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $39,290,992 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)

Landslide
$5.6M
Earthquake
$5.3M
Cold Wave
$886K
Ice Storm
$298K
Tsunami
$242K
Heat Wave
$136K

By property loss ($/yr)

Earthquake
$17.0M
Inland Flooding
$7.9M
Coastal Flooding
$1.3M
Tsunami
$160K
Landslide
$85K
Tornado
$25K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Island 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

20%
80%
Career: 20% (1)
Combination: 80% (4)
Residents per Station
2,801
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
35.7
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 5 departments registered in NERIS Public for Island County, WA. 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 Island 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 5 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
South Whidbey Fire/EMS 11,351 $2.1M Relatively High 15
Central Whidbey Island Fire & Rescue 13,597 $2.0M Relatively High 8
Camano Island Fire And Rescue 8,661 $2.0M Very High 5
Island County Fire District No. 2 15,888 $1.9M Relatively Low 0
Oak Harbor Fire Department -- -- Insufficient Data 3
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

7.7%
Poverty Rate
26.8%
Age 65+
16.9%
Disability Rate
4.5%
Uninsured
33.9%
Pre-1980 Housing
6.4%
Mobile Homes
15.8%
Vacancy Rate
5.8%
Wood Heat
$92,024
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

10
Last 10 Years
17
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