Montgomery Creek, CA
Montgomery Creek wildfire risk explained
Montgomery Creek sits at the 99th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 159 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Montgomery Creek at the 99th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Montgomery Creek's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 100% of Montgomery Creek's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 159 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Montgomery Creek compares
Montgomery Creek scores 99th nationally and 93rd within California — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montgomery Creek ranks 188 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,468 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 109 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
Montgomery Creek's 99th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Montgomery Creek (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 159 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Montgomery Creek. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Montgomery Creek, see the exposure-zones guide.