Churchtown, PA
Churchtown, PA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Churchtown sits at the 11th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 320 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Churchtown at the 9th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Churchtown's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Churchtown (52.8% of 320 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 44.4% sit in the Direct zone.
Churchtown against the rest of the country
Churchtown's risk sits at a similar level relative to Pennsylvania (9th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (11th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Churchtown ranks 28,157 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,097 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,814 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Churchtown and the insurance market
Churchtown's low wildfire rating (11th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Churchtown's 52.8% 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.
Where Churchtown's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 320 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Churchtown. The exposure-zones guide covers what Churchtown's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.