Ballard, CA
How exposed is Ballard to wildfire?
Ballard's 759 buildings earn a 85th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ballard at the 86th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Ballard's buildings actually sit
Of Ballard's 759 counted buildings, 88.9% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Ballard ranks
Ballard ranks lower within California (49th percentile statewide) than its 85th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ballard ranks 4,876 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,027 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 800 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Ballard and the insurance market
Ballard's 85th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Hardening a home in Ballard
With 88.9% of Ballard 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
Ballard's 85th-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 Ballard, see the exposure-zones guide.