How exposed is Downieville to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Downieville at the 100th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 294 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Downieville at the 100th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 59.9% of Downieville's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 40.1% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 176 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Downieville compares
Downieville's risk sits at a similar level relative to California (100th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (100th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Downieville ranks 5 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,782 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 5 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Downieville and the insurance market
Downieville's 100th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Downieville (59.9%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 294 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Downieville. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Downieville, see the exposure-zones guide.