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Risk & Response

Gilmer County, WV

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 66.9 Relatively High

7,288
Population
6
Departments
9
Stations
3
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
0.03
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
50th highest of 55
Life Safety per 100k
0.39
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
30th highest of 55
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$5.5M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
47th highest of 55
Property Loss per Resident
$757
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
8th highest of 55

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 Gilmer County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 39% of the life-safety total.

Gilmer County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $5.5M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 55 West Virginia counties. Nationally, Gilmer County ranks 3092nd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2789th for life safety per 100k residents, 2144th for property loss, and 303rd 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 Gilmer 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 Gilmer County.

Talk to us about Gilmer County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

93%
Property (buildings): $5.5M (93.1%)
Life safety: $389K (6.6%)
Agriculture: $22K (0.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $5,928,005 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
$152K
Landslide
$60K
Lightning
$58K
Heat Wave
$38K
Strong Wind
$31K
Inland Flooding
$29K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$5.4M
Strong Wind
$39K
Hail
$38K
Hurricane
$38K
Earthquake
$19K
Tornado
$13K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Gilmer 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

100%
Volunteer: 100% (6)
Residents per Station
810
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
123.5
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 6 departments registered in NERIS Public for Gilmer County, WV. 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 Gilmer 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 6 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Gilmer County Volunteer Fire Department 7,069 $389.4K Relatively High 5
Arnoldsburg Volunteer Fire Department 1,309 $183.4K Very High 1
Upper West Fork Volunteer Fire Department 1,250 $175.2K Very High 1
Smithville Volunteer Fire Department 845 $82.1K Very High 0
Frametown Volunteer Fire Department 1,185 $75.9K Very High 1
Bancs Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 954 $37.4K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

19.0%
Poverty Rate
18.2%
Age 65+
14.4%
Disability Rate
6.7%
Uninsured
62.3%
Pre-1980 Housing
25.4%
Mobile Homes
27.7%
Vacancy Rate
1.7%
Wood Heat
$37,882
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

5
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