New Palestine, IN
New Palestine, IN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts New Palestine at the 5th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 1,290 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks New Palestine at the 5th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
New Palestine's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 14.4% of New Palestine's 1,290 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 85.6% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How New Palestine compares
Compare New Palestine's two percentiles: 36th within Indiana, only 5th nationally — a gap of 31 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, New Palestine ranks 29,905 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,119 by building count (1 is largest). Within Indiana alone, it ranks 618 of 967 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Indiana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in New Palestine
At the 5th national percentile, New Palestine rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 85.6% of New Palestine outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where New Palestine's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,290 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for New Palestine. The exposure-zones guide covers what New Palestine's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.