Dames Quarter, MD
Dames Quarter, MD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Dames Quarter's 180 buildings earn a 99th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Dames Quarter at the 98th percentile, close to its 99th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 81.7% of Dames Quarter's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 3.3% Indirect share and far above its 15% Minimal share — a profile where 147 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Dames Quarter compares
Dames Quarter's risk sits at a similar level relative to Maryland (100th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (99th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dames Quarter ranks 447 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,626 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 2 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Dames Quarter's 99th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Dames Quarter
Because Direct exposure dominates in Dames Quarter (81.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Dames Quarter's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Dames Quarter's 447-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Dames Quarter's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.