Middle Island, NY
Middle Island wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Middle Island lands at the 61st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,917 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Middle Island at the 53rd national percentile — 7 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Middle Island's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 67% of Middle Island's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 32.8% Indirect share and far above its 0.2% Minimal share — a profile where 1,954 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Middle Island compares
Within New York, Middle Island ranks higher (99th percentile) than it does nationally (61st) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Middle Island ranks 12,362 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,556 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 17 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Middle Island
Middle Island's 61st-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Middle Island (67%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Middle Island's figures come from
Middle Island's 61st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Middle Island's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.