Imperial, PA
How exposed is Imperial to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Imperial at the 32nd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,302 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Imperial at the 33rd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Imperial's buildings actually sit
51.3% of Imperial's 1,302 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 668 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 48.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Imperial against the rest of the country
Imperial's risk sits at a similar level relative to Pennsylvania (43rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (32nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Imperial ranks 21,472 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,070 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,145 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Imperial and the insurance market
Imperial's moderate rating (32nd 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 Imperial
With 51.3% of Imperial 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,302 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Imperial. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Imperial, see the exposure-zones guide.