Elba, NY
Elba wildfire risk explained
Elba sits at the 3rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 411 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Elba's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 3rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
65.5% of Elba's 411 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 269 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 34.6% are Minimal.
Elba against the rest of the country
Elba scores 3rd nationally and 1st within New York — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elba ranks 30,709 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,012 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,277 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Elba and the insurance market
Elba's low wildfire rating (3rd 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.
Hardening a home in Elba
With 65.5% of Elba 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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Elba's 30,709-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Elba, see the exposure-zones guide.