Essex Fells, NJ
How exposed is Essex Fells to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Essex Fells lands at the 29th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 932 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Essex Fells at the 29th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Essex Fells: 93% of its 932 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 7% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Essex Fells against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Essex Fells's 29th national percentile and its 23rd percentile inside New Jersey, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Essex Fells ranks 22,504 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,456 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 536 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Essex Fells and the insurance market
At the 29th national percentile, Essex Fells rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Essex Fells
With 93% of Essex Fells 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 Essex Fells's 22,504-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Essex Fells, see the exposure-zones guide.