Belleplain, NJ
Belleplain, NJ's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Belleplain at the 85th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 457 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Belleplain at the 85th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 88.2% of Belleplain's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 11.8% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 403 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Belleplain compares
There's little gap between Belleplain's 85th national percentile and its 90th 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, Belleplain ranks 4,670 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,134 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 72 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Belleplain's 85th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Belleplain (88.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Belleplain's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 457 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Belleplain. The exposure-zones guide covers what Belleplain's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.