North Star, DE
North Star wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts North Star at the 23rd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 2,879 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 North Star at the 22nd percentile, close to its 23rd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
88.2% of North Star's 2,879 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 2,539 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 6.5% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 5.3% are Minimal.
North Star against the rest of the country
North Star ranks lower within Delaware (8th percentile statewide) than its 23rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, North Star ranks 24,166 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,613 by building count (1 is largest). Within Delaware alone, it ranks 74 of 79 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Delaware on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in North Star
At the 23rd national percentile, North Star 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
North Star's 88.2% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where North Star's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,879 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for North Star. The exposure-zones guide covers what North Star's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.