Mountain Lake, NJ
How exposed is Mountain Lake to wildfire?
USFS scores Mountain Lake at the 37th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 297 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Mountain Lake at the 37th percentile, close to its 37th-percentile risk score.
Where Mountain Lake's buildings actually sit
75.8% of Mountain Lake's 297 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 225 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 18.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 5.4% are Minimal.
Where Mountain Lake ranks
Mountain Lake's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Jersey (38th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (37th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mountain Lake ranks 19,793 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,712 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 437 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Mountain Lake
Mountain Lake's moderate wildfire rating (37th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Mountain Lake
Because Direct exposure dominates in Mountain Lake (75.8%), 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 297 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mountain Lake. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Mountain Lake, see the exposure-zones guide.