Browntown, SC
Browntown wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Browntown lands at the 71st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 163 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Browntown at the 72nd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Browntown's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Browntown: 79.8% of its 163 buildings, versus 20.3% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Browntown ranks
Browntown scores 71st nationally and 61st within South Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Browntown ranks 9,240 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,301 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 187 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Browntown
Browntown's 71st-percentile, 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
With 79.8% of Browntown in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Browntown's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 163 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Browntown. The exposure-zones guide covers what Browntown's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.