Gowanda, NY
Gowanda, NY's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Gowanda at the 27th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 1,403 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Gowanda at the 28th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Gowanda's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Gowanda's 1,403 counted buildings, 50.5% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Gowanda ranks
Compare Gowanda's two percentiles: 57th within New York, only 27th nationally — a gap of 30 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gowanda ranks 22,889 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,613 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 552 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Gowanda and the insurance market
Gowanda's moderate rating (27th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Gowanda
With 50.5% of Gowanda in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Gowanda's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,403 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Gowanda. The exposure-zones guide covers what Gowanda's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.