Dexter, ME
Dexter wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Dexter at the 8th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 1,279 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Dexter at the 8th percentile, close to its 8th-percentile risk score.
Where Dexter's buildings actually sit
1,279 buildings are counted in Dexter, and 55.2% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 43.4% in Direct exposure or the 1.4% rated Minimal.
How Dexter compares
Within Maine, Dexter ranks higher (25th percentile) than it does nationally (8th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dexter ranks 29,088 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,200 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 115 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 8th national percentile, Dexter rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Dexter
Because 55.2% of Dexter'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.
Where Dexter's figures come from
Dexter's 8th-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 Dexter's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.