Altamont, NY
Altamont wildfire risk explained
Altamont sits at the 18th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 767 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Altamont's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 17th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
57% of Altamont's 767 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 437 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 43% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Altamont compares
Within New York, Altamont ranks higher (41st percentile) than it does nationally (18th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Altamont ranks 25,879 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,946 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 761 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Altamont and the insurance market
Altamont's low rating (18th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Altamont's 57% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Altamont's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Altamont's 25,879-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Altamont's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.