Briar Chapel, NC
How exposed is Briar Chapel to wildfire?
Briar Chapel sits at the 37th 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 2,493 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Briar Chapel's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 38th percentile nationally.
Briar Chapel's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Briar Chapel's buildings (75.3%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Briar Chapel against the rest of the country
Briar Chapel's 37th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 9th ranking inside North Carolina does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 27 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Briar Chapel ranks 20,018 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,309 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 700 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Briar Chapel's moderate rating (37th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Briar Chapel
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Briar Chapel (75.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,493 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Briar Chapel. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Briar Chapel, see the exposure-zones guide.