Colchester, CT
How exposed is Colchester to wildfire?
Colchester sits at the 42nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,991 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Colchester at the 39th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Colchester's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 54.1% of Colchester's 1,991 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 45.9% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Colchester against the rest of the country
Compare Colchester's two percentiles: 86th within Connecticut, only 42nd nationally — a gap of 44 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Colchester ranks 18,394 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,510 by building count (1 is largest). Within Connecticut alone, it ranks 31 of 214 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Connecticut on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Colchester's elevated rating (42nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Colchester's 54.1% 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 Colchester's figures come from
Colchester's 42nd-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 Colchester's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.