Gorham, ME
Gorham wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Gorham at the 18th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 2,843 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Gorham at the 18th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Gorham's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Gorham: 54.8% of its 2,843 buildings, versus 45.2% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Gorham against the rest of the country
Compare Gorham's two percentiles: 83rd within Maine, only 18th nationally — a gap of 65 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gorham ranks 25,966 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,671 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 28 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Gorham
At the 18th national percentile, Gorham rates low 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 Gorham
Because Direct exposure dominates in Gorham (54.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Gorham's 18th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Gorham, see the exposure-zones guide.