Blades, DE
Blades wildfire risk explained
Blades sits at the 57th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 501 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Blades at the 58th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 10% of Blades's 501 buildings carry Direct exposure and 20.4% carry Indirect; the remaining 69.7% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Blades against the rest of the country
Within Delaware, Blades ranks higher (92nd percentile) than it does nationally (57th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Blades ranks 13,481 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,327 by building count (1 is largest). Within Delaware alone, it ranks 7 of 79 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Delaware on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 57th national percentile, Blades rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 69.7% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Blades gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Blades's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 501 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Blades. The exposure-zones guide covers what Blades's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.