Mount Carmel, SC
Mount Carmel wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Mount Carmel lands at the 72nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 163 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Mount Carmel's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 74th percentile nationally.
Mount Carmel's building exposure, zone by zone
163 buildings are counted in Mount Carmel, and 100% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
How Mount Carmel compares
Mount Carmel's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Carolina (64th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (72nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mount Carmel ranks 8,927 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,302 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 172 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Mount Carmel and the insurance market
Mount Carmel's high rating (72nd percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Mount Carmel's 100% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Mount Carmel's figures come from
Mount Carmel's 72nd-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 Mount Carmel's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.