North, SC
How exposed is North to wildfire?
USFS scores North at the 66th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 618 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks North at the 66th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
69.3% of North's 618 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 30.7% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where North ranks
North's 66th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 41st ranking inside South Carolina does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 26 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, North ranks 10,661 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,595 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 282 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
North's 66th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in North
North's 69.3% 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 North's figures come from
North's 66th-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 North's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.