New Buffalo, PA
How exposed is New Buffalo to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts New Buffalo at the 29th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 81 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 New Buffalo at the 28th percentile, close to its 29th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 90.1% of New Buffalo's 81 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 9.9% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where New Buffalo ranks
New Buffalo's risk sits at a similar level relative to Pennsylvania (36th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (29th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, New Buffalo ranks 22,417 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,862 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,280 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 29th national percentile, New Buffalo rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
New Buffalo's 90.1% 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 New Buffalo's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 81 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for New Buffalo. The exposure-zones guide covers what New Buffalo's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.