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Risk & Response

Ritchie County, WV

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 68.5 Relatively High

8,286
Population
6
Departments
5
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
0.04
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
47th highest of 55
Life Safety per 100k
0.49
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
25th highest of 55
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$5.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
48th highest of 55
Property Loss per Resident
$643
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
21st 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 Ritchie County, the largest single contributor is Inland Flooding, 38% of the life-safety total.

Ritchie County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $5.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 55 West Virginia counties. Nationally, Ritchie County ranks 3027th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2564th for life safety per 100k residents, 2182nd for property loss, and 497th 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 Ritchie 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 Ritchie County.

Talk to us about Ritchie County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

90%
9%
Property (buildings): $5.3M (89.6%)
Life safety: $555K (9.3%)
Agriculture: $60K (1.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $5,944,877 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)

Inland Flooding
$209K
Cold Wave
$119K
Lightning
$73K
Heat Wave
$51K
Landslide
$45K
Tornado
$26K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$5.1M
Strong Wind
$52K
Hail
$46K
Hurricane
$41K
Tornado
$26K
Earthquake
$24K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Ritchie 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
1,657
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
60.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 6 departments registered in NERIS Public for Ritchie 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 Ritchie 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 ▲
Ellenboro Volunteer Fire Department 3,248 $198.9K Relatively High 1
Harrisville Volunteer Fire Department 2,516 $147.8K Relatively Moderate 1
Pennsboro Volunteer Fire Department 2,036 $125.5K Relatively High 1
Cairo Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 918 $90.4K Very High 1
Smithville Volunteer Fire Department 845 $82.1K Very High 0
Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department 1,833 $55.8K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

21.6%
Poverty Rate
23.0%
Age 65+
25.6%
Disability Rate
7.8%
Uninsured
58.6%
Pre-1980 Housing
23.2%
Mobile Homes
18.8%
Vacancy Rate
4.4%
Wood Heat
$50,566
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