Gold Beach, OR
How exposed is Gold Beach to wildfire?
USFS scores Gold Beach at the 93rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 1,516 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Gold Beach's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 89th percentile nationally.
Where Gold Beach's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Gold Beach (83.5% of 1,516 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 16.2% sit in the Direct zone.
How Gold Beach compares
Gold Beach scores 93rd nationally and 80th within Oregon — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gold Beach ranks 2,147 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,096 by building count (1 is largest). Within Oregon alone, it ranks 87 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Oregon on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Because Gold Beach is in Oregon, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Hardening a home in Gold Beach
Gold Beach's 83.5% 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 Gold Beach's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,516 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Gold Beach. The exposure-zones guide covers what Gold Beach's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.