Ellsworth, ME
Ellsworth wildfire risk explained
Ellsworth sits at the 17th 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 5,382 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Ellsworth's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 16th percentile nationally.
Where Ellsworth's buildings actually sit
72.7% of Ellsworth's 5,382 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 3,915 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 26.5% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.8% are Minimal. At 5,382 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Ellsworth ranks
Within Maine, Ellsworth ranks higher (76th percentile) than it does nationally (17th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ellsworth ranks 26,310 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,207 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 35 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Ellsworth
At the 17th national percentile, Ellsworth rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 72.7% of Ellsworth 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
Ellsworth's 17th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Ellsworth, see the exposure-zones guide.