Burney, CA
Burney, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Burney lands at the 93rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 1,718 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Burney at the 93rd percentile, close to its 93rd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Burney (50.5% of 1,718 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 49.5% sit in the Direct zone.
Burney against the rest of the country
Inside California, Burney sits at just the 70th percentile even though it scores 93rd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Burney ranks 2,068 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,353 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 480 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Because Burney is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Burney (50.5% 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
Burney's 93rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Burney, see the exposure-zones guide.