Fairview-Ferndale, PA
Fairview-Ferndale wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Fairview-Ferndale at the 53rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 866 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Fairview-Ferndale at the 52nd national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Fairview-Ferndale's building exposure, zone by zone
866 buildings are counted in Fairview-Ferndale, and 89.7% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 10.3% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Fairview-Ferndale compares
Compare Fairview-Ferndale's two percentiles: 88th within Pennsylvania, only 53rd nationally — a gap of 35 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fairview-Ferndale ranks 14,791 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,025 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 242 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Fairview-Ferndale and the insurance market
At the 53rd national percentile, Fairview-Ferndale rates elevated 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 Fairview-Ferndale
Because 89.7% of Fairview-Ferndale's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Fairview-Ferndale's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 866 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Fairview-Ferndale. The exposure-zones guide covers what Fairview-Ferndale's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.