Hardwick, CA
Hardwick wildfire risk explained
Hardwick sits at the 79th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 58 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hardwick at the 79th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Hardwick's buildings actually sit
Most of Hardwick's buildings (56.9%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Hardwick against the rest of the country
Hardwick's 79th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 40th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 40 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hardwick ranks 6,516 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,701 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 950 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Hardwick and the insurance market
Hardwick sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 79th-percentile score like Hardwick's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Hardening a home in Hardwick
Hardwick's 56.9% 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 Hardwick's figures come from
Hardwick's 79th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hardwick's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.