Altona, NY
Altona wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Altona at the 16th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 231 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Altona at the 16th percentile, close to its 16th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
86.2% of Altona's 231 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 199 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 13.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Altona against the rest of the country
Within New York, Altona ranks higher (38th percentile) than it does nationally (16th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Altona ranks 26,349 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,771 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 797 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Altona
Altona's low rating (16th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 86.2% of Altona in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Altona's 16th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Altona, see the exposure-zones guide.