Contoocook, NH
Contoocook, NH's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Contoocook at the 16th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 747 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Contoocook's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 16th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Contoocook (56.2% of 747 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 43.8% sit in the Direct zone.
Contoocook against the rest of the country
Compare Contoocook's two percentiles: 34th within New Hampshire, only 16th nationally — a gap of 18 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Contoocook ranks 26,407 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,153 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Hampshire alone, it ranks 66 of 100 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Hampshire on its state page.
Contoocook and the insurance market
Contoocook's low rating (16th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Contoocook
Because 56.2% of Contoocook's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 747 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Contoocook. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Contoocook, see the exposure-zones guide.