Ferndale, CA
How exposed is Ferndale to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ferndale lands at the 63rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 998 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ferndale at the 66th national percentile — 4 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
71.9% of Ferndale's 998 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 28.1% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Ferndale compares
Ferndale's 63rd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 21st ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 42 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ferndale ranks 11,745 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,947 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 1,246 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Ferndale and the insurance market
Ferndale sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 63rd-percentile score like Ferndale's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Hardening a home in Ferndale
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Ferndale (71.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Ferndale's figures come from
Ferndale's 63rd-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 Ferndale's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.