Eldred, IL
Eldred wildfire risk explained
Eldred sits at the 25th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 174 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Eldred at the 26th percentile, close to its 25th-percentile risk score.
Eldred's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Eldred (88.5% of 174 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 11.5% sit in the Direct zone.
How Eldred compares
Compare Eldred's two percentiles: 71st within Illinois, only 25th nationally — a gap of 46 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Eldred ranks 23,626 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,850 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 415 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Eldred
At the 25th national percentile, Eldred rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Eldred (88.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Eldred's figures come from
Eldred's 25th-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 Eldred's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.