East Dorset, VT
East Dorset, VT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, East Dorset lands at the 17th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 234 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts East Dorset at the 18th percentile, close to its 17th-percentile risk score.
Where East Dorset's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in East Dorset: 82.1% of its 234 buildings, versus 18% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
East Dorset against the rest of the country
Compare East Dorset's two percentiles: 75th within Vermont, only 17th nationally — a gap of 58 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, East Dorset ranks 26,049 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,687 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 45 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
East Dorset's low wildfire rating (17th 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 82.1% of East Dorset 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 East Dorset's figures come from
East Dorset's 17th-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 East Dorset's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.