Laurel Mountain, PA
How exposed is Laurel Mountain to wildfire?
Laurel Mountain sits at the 50th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 67 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Laurel Mountain's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 48th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
100% of Laurel Mountain's 67 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 67 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Laurel Mountain ranks
Compare Laurel Mountain's two percentiles: 81st within Pennsylvania, only 50th nationally — a gap of 32 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Laurel Mountain ranks 15,832 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,397 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 372 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Laurel Mountain and the insurance market
Laurel Mountain's elevated rating (50th 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 Laurel Mountain
With 100% of Laurel Mountain 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
Laurel Mountain's 50th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Laurel Mountain, see the exposure-zones guide.