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Risk & Response

Polk County, WI

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 65.2 Relatively High

45,555
Population
16
Departments
22
Stations
14
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
0.80
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
34th highest of 72
Life Safety per 100k
1.75
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
30th highest of 72
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$11.9M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
39th highest of 72
Property Loss per Resident
$260
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
46th highest of 72

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 Polk County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 68% of the life-safety total.

Polk County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $11.9M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 72 Wisconsin counties. Nationally, Polk County ranks 723rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 792nd for life safety per 100k residents, 1354th for property loss, and 2198th 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 Polk 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 Polk County.

Talk to us about Polk County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

52%
47%
Property (buildings): $11.9M (51.6%)
Life safety: $10.9M (47.4%)
Agriculture: $231K (1.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $22,999,236 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)

Cold Wave
$7.4M
Tornado
$1.6M
Strong Wind
$700K
Heat Wave
$571K
Lightning
$495K
Winter Weather
$59K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$7.7M
Tornado
$1.7M
Hail
$1.3M
Strong Wind
$1.1M
Ice Storm
$29K
Wildfire
$26K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Polk 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

69%
25%
Career: 6% (1)
Volunteer: 69% (11)
Unreported: 25% (4)
Residents per Station
2,071
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
48.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 16 departments registered in NERIS Public for Polk County, WI. 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 Polk 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 16 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Cumberland Fire District 20,584 $6.2M Relatively High 1
NEW RICHMOND FIRE DEPT 22,224 $2.7M Relatively High 2
Clayton Fire Department 8,738 $2.5M Relatively High 1
Amery Fire Department 6,562 $1.6M Relatively High 1
Deer Park Area Fire Department 5,130 $1.2M Very High 2
Osceola Fire - Rescue 4,822 $1.2M Very High 1
Allied Emergency Services Inc 4,062 $978.5K Relatively High 3
Milltown Volunteer Fire Department 3,908 $914.6K Relatively Moderate 3
Lorain Volunteer Fire Department 3,776 $877.0K Relatively High 1
Frederic Rural Fire Association 3,184 $766.5K Relatively High 1
Turtle Lake Fire District 2,714 $756.2K Relatively High 1
Saint Croix Falls Fire Department 3,164 $753.3K Relatively Moderate 1
Luck Rural Fire Department 3,033 $715.6K Relatively High 1
Apple River Fire Department 2,936 $695.1K Relatively Moderate 1
Clear Lake Fire Department 3,045 $683.3K Relatively High 1
Cushing Fire Department 2,381 $599.2K Relatively Moderate 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.2%
Poverty Rate
22.6%
Age 65+
13.4%
Disability Rate
6.2%
Uninsured
49.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
6.8%
Mobile Homes
20.4%
Vacancy Rate
7.5%
Wood Heat
$76,810
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
6
Last 25 Years
Biological
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