Herlong, CA
Herlong wildfire risk explained
Herlong sits at the 98th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 169 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Herlong's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 98th percentile nationally.
Herlong's building exposure, zone by zone
169 buildings are counted in Herlong, and 67.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 32.5% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Herlong ranks
Herlong scores 98th nationally and 83rd within California — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Herlong ranks 657 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,058 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 270 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Herlong and the insurance market
Herlong 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 98th-percentile score like Herlong's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Herlong (67.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Herlong's 657-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Herlong, see the exposure-zones guide.