Independence, CA
How exposed is Independence to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Independence lands at the 93rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 619 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Independence at the 93rd percentile, close to its 93rd-percentile risk score.
Independence's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Independence (80.6% of 619 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 19.4% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Independence ranks
Independence's 93rd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 69th ranking inside California does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 24 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Independence ranks 2,101 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,565 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 485 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Independence
Independence's 93rd-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 80.6% of Independence's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Independence's figures come from
Independence's 93rd-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 Independence's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.