Madison, ME
How exposed is Madison to wildfire?
USFS scores Madison at the 7th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 1,433 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Madison's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 7th percentile nationally.
Where Madison's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 72.9% of Madison's 1,433 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 27.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Madison ranks
Madison's risk sits at a similar level relative to Maine (3rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (7th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Madison ranks 29,434 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,463 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 150 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Madison's low rating (7th 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 Madison
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Madison (72.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Madison's 29,434-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Madison, see the exposure-zones guide.