Darwin, CA
How exposed is Darwin to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Darwin at the 58th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 108 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Darwin at the 58th percentile, close to its 58th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
84.3% of Darwin's 108 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 15.7% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Darwin against the rest of the country
Darwin ranks lower within California (16th percentile statewide) than its 58th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Darwin ranks 13,132 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,680 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,315 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Darwin
Darwin sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 58th-percentile score like Darwin's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Hardening a home in Darwin
Because 84.3% of Darwin'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 108 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Darwin. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Darwin, see the exposure-zones guide.