Ferndale, PA
How exposed is Ferndale to wildfire?
USFS scores Ferndale at the 36th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 719 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Ferndale at the 35th percentile, close to its 36th-percentile risk score.
Where Ferndale's buildings actually sit
96% of Ferndale's 719 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 4% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Ferndale compares
Within Pennsylvania, Ferndale ranks higher (53rd percentile) than it does nationally (36th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ferndale ranks 20,086 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,468 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 933 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Ferndale and the insurance market
Ferndale's moderate rating (36th 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
Ferndale's 96% 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.
Where Ferndale's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Ferndale's 20,086-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Ferndale's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.