Chatham, NY
Chatham wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Chatham at the 26th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 931 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Chatham at the 24th percentile, close to its 26th-percentile risk score.
Chatham's building exposure, zone by zone
69.5% of Chatham's 931 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 30.5% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Chatham against the rest of the country
Within New York, Chatham ranks higher (54th percentile) than it does nationally (26th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chatham ranks 23,453 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,464 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 597 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Chatham and the insurance market
At the 26th national percentile, Chatham rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Chatham
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Chatham (69.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Chatham's figures come from
Chatham's 26th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Chatham's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.