Mount Vernon, TX
How exposed is Mount Vernon to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Mount Vernon at the 77th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,350 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Mount Vernon at the 79th percentile, close to its 77th-percentile risk score.
Mount Vernon's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Mount Vernon (77.4% of 1,350 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 22.6% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Mount Vernon ranks
Mount Vernon ranks lower within Texas (52nd percentile statewide) than its 77th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mount Vernon ranks 7,323 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,830 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 865 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon's high rating (77th 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 Vernon's 77.4% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Mount Vernon's figures come from
Mount Vernon's 77th-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 Vernon's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.