McArthur, CA
How exposed is McArthur to wildfire?
USFS scores McArthur at the 81st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 302 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks McArthur at the 85th national percentile — 4 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 60.9% of McArthur's 302 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 39.1% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How McArthur compares
McArthur ranks lower within California (42nd percentile statewide) than its 81st national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McArthur ranks 5,887 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,565 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 908 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Because McArthur 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in McArthur (60.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where McArthur's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind McArthur's 5,887-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what McArthur's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.