Basking Ridge, NJ
Basking Ridge wildfire risk explained
Basking Ridge sits at the 36th 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 2,604 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Basking Ridge at the 36th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Basking Ridge's buildings actually sit
92.1% of Basking Ridge's 2,604 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 2,398 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 7.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Basking Ridge compares
There's little gap between Basking Ridge's 36th national percentile and its 35th percentile inside New Jersey, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Basking Ridge ranks 20,265 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,088 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 453 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Basking Ridge and the insurance market
Basking Ridge's moderate wildfire rating (36th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Basking Ridge (92.1%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Basking Ridge's figures come from
Basking Ridge's 36th-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 Basking Ridge's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.