Friendsville, MD
Friendsville wildfire risk explained
Friendsville's 329 buildings earn a 51st-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 Friendsville at the 50th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 56.8% of Friendsville's 329 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 43.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Friendsville against the rest of the country
Friendsville's 71st-percentile standing inside Maryland outpaces its 51st national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Friendsville ranks 15,504 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,850 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 154 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Friendsville and the insurance market
At the 51st national percentile, Friendsville 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 Friendsville
Friendsville's 56.8% 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
Friendsville's 51st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Friendsville, see the exposure-zones guide.