Ayer, MA
How exposed is Ayer to wildfire?
Ayer sits at the 40th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,114 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ayer at the 35th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Ayer's buildings actually sit
91.4% of Ayer's 1,114 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 8.6% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Ayer ranks
Ayer's 95th-percentile standing inside Massachusetts outpaces its 40th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ayer ranks 19,004 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,190 by building count (1 is largest). Within Massachusetts alone, it ranks 13 of 248 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Massachusetts on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Ayer
At the 40th national percentile, Ayer rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Ayer
Because 91.4% of Ayer's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,114 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Ayer. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Ayer, see the exposure-zones guide.