Empire, OH
How exposed is Empire to wildfire?
Empire's 168 buildings earn a 40th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Empire at the 41st national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Empire's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 86.9% of Empire's 168 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 13.1% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Empire ranks
Within Ohio, Empire ranks higher (88th percentile) than it does nationally (40th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Empire ranks 18,849 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,107 by building count (1 is largest). Within Ohio alone, it ranks 158 of 1,264 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Ohio on its state page.
Empire and the insurance market
Empire's elevated rating (40th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Empire's 86.9% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 168 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Empire. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Empire, see the exposure-zones guide.