Lake Pocotopaug, CT
Lake Pocotopaug wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Lake Pocotopaug at the 49th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 2,430 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Lake Pocotopaug at the 47th percentile, close to its 49th-percentile risk score.
Lake Pocotopaug's building exposure, zone by zone
59.6% of Lake Pocotopaug's 2,430 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,448 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 35.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 4.5% are Minimal.
How Lake Pocotopaug compares
Within Connecticut, Lake Pocotopaug ranks higher (100th percentile) than it does nationally (49th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake Pocotopaug ranks 16,000 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,437 by building count (1 is largest). Within Connecticut alone, it ranks 1 of 214 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Connecticut on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Lake Pocotopaug
Lake Pocotopaug's elevated wildfire rating (49th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Lake Pocotopaug (59.6%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Lake Pocotopaug's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Lake Pocotopaug's 16,000-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lake Pocotopaug's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.