Duane Lake, NY
Duane Lake wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Duane Lake lands at the 20th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 228 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Duane Lake's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 18th percentile nationally.
Where Duane Lake's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 98.7% of Duane Lake's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0.4% Indirect share and far above its 0.9% Minimal share — a profile where 225 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Duane Lake compares
Compare Duane Lake's two percentiles: 44th within New York, only 20th nationally — a gap of 25 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Duane Lake ranks 25,375 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,865 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 720 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Duane Lake and the insurance market
Duane Lake's low wildfire rating (20th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With 98.7% of Duane Lake 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 Duane Lake's figures come from
Duane Lake's 20th-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 Duane Lake's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.