Cheswick, PA
How exposed is Cheswick to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Cheswick at the 28th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,018 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Cheswick's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 28th percentile nationally.
Where Cheswick's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 92.4% of Cheswick's 1,018 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 7.6% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Cheswick against the rest of the country
Cheswick's risk sits at a similar level relative to Pennsylvania (34th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (28th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cheswick ranks 22,767 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,817 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,315 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Cheswick
Cheswick's moderate rating (28th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Cheswick's 92.4% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,018 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cheswick. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Cheswick, see the exposure-zones guide.