Aurora, NY
How exposed is Aurora to wildfire?
USFS scores Aurora at the 5th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 268 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Aurora at the 5th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Aurora's buildings actually sit
50% of Aurora's 268 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 134 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 41% are Minimal.
How Aurora compares
Aurora's risk sits at a similar level relative to New York (5th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (5th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Aurora ranks 29,954 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,574 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,226 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Aurora
Aurora's low rating (5th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Aurora
Because Direct exposure dominates in Aurora (50%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Aurora's figures come from
Aurora's 5th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Aurora's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.