Lake Nacimiento, CA
How exposed is Lake Nacimiento to wildfire?
USFS scores Lake Nacimiento at the 99th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 2,100 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lake Nacimiento's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 99th percentile nationally.
Where Lake Nacimiento's buildings actually sit
77.5% of Lake Nacimiento's 2,100 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,628 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 22.5% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Lake Nacimiento against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Lake Nacimiento's 99th national percentile and its 89th percentile inside California, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake Nacimiento ranks 339 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,190 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 168 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Lake Nacimiento and the insurance market
Because Lake Nacimiento is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Lake Nacimiento (77.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Lake Nacimiento's figures come from
Lake Nacimiento's 99th-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 Lake Nacimiento's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.