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.
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 San Diego County, the largest single contributor is Earthquake, 68% of the life-safety total.
San Diego County carries an expected 11 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $1.4B in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 58 California counties. Nationally, San Diego County ranks 34th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2939th for life safety per 100k residents, 7th for property loss, and 1123rd 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 San Diego 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 San Diego County.
Talk to us about San Diego County See what a department seesLoss Breakdown
Total expected annual loss: $1,539,182,122 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)
By property loss ($/yr)
Census Tract Risk Map
Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in San Diego 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
Department composition covers the 40 departments registered in NERIS Public for San Diego County, CA. 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 San Diego 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.
| Department ▲ | Est. Population ▲ | Life-Safety Loss ▼ | NRI Rating ▲ | Stations ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department | 1.4M | $69.0M | Relatively Moderate | 56 |
| San Diego County Fire Authority | 81,206 | $23.3M | Very High | 21 |
| California Department Of Forestry And Fire Protection | 46,042 | $14.2M | Very High | 31 |
| Chula Vista Fire Department | 275,848 | $7.2M | Relatively Moderate | 15 |
| Borrego Springs Fire Protection District | 2,577 | $5.5M | Very High | 1 |
| San Marcos Fire Department | 232,080 | $5.2M | Relatively Moderate | 4 |
| Oceanside Fire Department | 170,745 | $4.6M | Relatively Moderate | 9 |
| Escondido Fire Department | 154,685 | $4.5M | Relatively High | 7 |
| Heartland Fire And Rescue | 101,948 | $2.9M | Relatively Moderate | 8 |
| El Cajon Fire Department | 101,865 | $2.9M | Relatively Moderate | 4 |
| San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District | 125,981 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate | 8 |
| National City Fire Department | 60,199 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate | 3 |
| North County Fire Protection District | 53,745 | $2.6M | Relatively High | 6 |
| Ramona Fire Department | 31,543 | $2.6M | Very High | 3 |
| Carlsbad Fire Department | 111,297 | $2.2M | Relatively Moderate | 7 |
| Valley Center Fire Protection District | 16,739 | $2.1M | Very High | 3 |
| Vista Fire Department | 116,177 | $2.0M | Relatively Moderate | 6 |
| Lakeside Fire Protection District | 65,896 | $2.0M | Relatively High | 4 |
| Santee Fire Department | 58,493 | $1.8M | Relatively Moderate | 6 |
| Poway Fire Department | 49,068 | $1.6M | Relatively High | 3 |
| La Mesa Fire Department | 60,442 | $1.5M | Relatively Low | 3 |
| Encinitas Fire Department | 61,046 | $1.4M | Relatively Moderate | 6 |
| Coronado Fire Department | 18,749 | $1.3M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Imperial Beach Fire Department | 25,298 | $1.1M | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Alpine Fire Protection District | 16,228 | $1.0M | Very High | 1 |
| Deer Springs Fire Protection District | 14,100 | $1.0M | Very High | 3 |
| Campo Reservation Fire Protection District | 567 | $747.6K | Very High | 1 |
| Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District | 33,443 | $689.9K | Relatively High | 7 |
| Lemon Grove Fire Department | 28,599 | $606.3K | Relatively Low | 0 |
| Solana Beach Fire Department | 12,381 | $344.4K | Relatively Moderate | 1 |
| Pala Fire Department | 1,187 | $308.5K | Very High | 1 |
| Bonita Sunnyside Fire Protection District | 13,255 | $274.3K | Relatively High | 1 |
| Del Mar Fire Department | 3,873 | $267.7K | Relatively High | 1 |
| San Pasqual Reservation Fire Department | 1,139 | $211.6K | Very High | 1 |
| Rincon Fire Department | 990 | $147.7K | Very High | 1 |
| Viejas Fire Department | 558 | $125.0K | Very High | 3 |
| Barona Fire Department | 704 | $91.4K | Very High | 1 |
| Pauma Fire Department | 262 | $84.8K | Very High | 2 |
| Pechanga Fire Department | 528 | $75.7K | Very High | 2 |
| Sycuan Fire Department | 219 | $16.5K | Very High | 1 |
Risk Snapshot
FEMA Disaster Declarations
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.
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