Petersville, IN
Petersville wildfire risk explained
Petersville sits at the 14th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 161 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Petersville's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 16th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
67.7% of Petersville's 161 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 32.3% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Petersville against the rest of the country
Compare Petersville's two percentiles: 66th within Indiana, only 14th nationally — a gap of 52 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Petersville ranks 27,158 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,378 by building count (1 is largest). Within Indiana alone, it ranks 333 of 967 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Indiana on its state page.
Petersville and the insurance market
Petersville's low rating (14th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 67.7% of Petersville 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 Petersville's figures come from
Petersville's 14th-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 Petersville's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.