Machias, WA
How exposed is Machias to wildfire?
Machias's 801 buildings earn a 15th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Machias at the 15th percentile, close to its 15th-percentile risk score.
Machias's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Machias: 76.7% of its 801 buildings, versus 23.4% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Machias against the rest of the country
Machias's risk sits at a similar level relative to Washington (19th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (15th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Machias ranks 26,805 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,628 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 510 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Machias
At the 15th national percentile, Machias rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 76.7% of Machias 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Machias's 26,805-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Machias, see the exposure-zones guide.