Bessemer, PA
How exposed is Bessemer to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Bessemer lands at the 33rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 767 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bessemer's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 32nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Bessemer (63.9% of 767 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 36.1% sit in the Direct zone.
Bessemer against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Bessemer's 33rd national percentile and its 44th percentile inside Pennsylvania, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bessemer ranks 21,186 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,949 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,106 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Bessemer and the insurance market
Bessemer's moderate wildfire rating (33rd 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.
Hardening a home in Bessemer
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Bessemer (63.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Bessemer's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Bessemer's 21,186-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bessemer's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.