Newcastle, CA
How exposed is Newcastle to wildfire?
USFS scores Newcastle at the 92nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 900 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 Newcastle at the 91st percentile, close to its 92nd-percentile risk score.
Where Newcastle's buildings actually sit
900 buildings are counted in Newcastle, and 56.3% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 5.4% rated Minimal.
Newcastle against the rest of the country
Newcastle ranks lower within California (66th percentile statewide) than its 92nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Newcastle ranks 2,543 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,718 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 532 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Newcastle
Newcastle sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 92nd-percentile score like Newcastle's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Hardening a home in Newcastle
Because Direct exposure dominates in Newcastle (56.3%), 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 900 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Newcastle. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Newcastle, see the exposure-zones guide.