Daufuskie Island, SC
Daufuskie Island, SC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Daufuskie Island sits at the 95th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 629 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Daufuskie Island's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 90th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 99.8% of Daufuskie Island's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 0.2% Minimal share — a profile where 628 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Daufuskie Island against the rest of the country
Daufuskie Island's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Carolina (100th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (95th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Daufuskie Island ranks 1,554 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,461 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 2 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Daufuskie Island and the insurance market
Daufuskie Island's 95th-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 Daufuskie Island
With 99.8% of Daufuskie Island in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Daufuskie Island's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Daufuskie Island's 1,554-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Daufuskie Island's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.