Bradford, VT
How exposed is Bradford to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Bradford at the 15th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 432 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Bradford at the 15th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Bradford's building exposure, zone by zone
72% of Bradford's 432 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 28% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Bradford against the rest of the country
Bradford's 40th-percentile standing inside Vermont outpaces its 15th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bradford ranks 26,835 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,615 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 106 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Bradford
Bradford's low wildfire rating (15th 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
Bradford's 72% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Bradford's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 432 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bradford. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bradford's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.