Pines Lake, NJ
Pines Lake wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Pines Lake at the 35th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,166 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Pines Lake at the 33rd national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Pines Lake's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Pines Lake: 78.3% of its 1,166 buildings, versus 13.7% Indirect and 8% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Pines Lake compares
Pines Lake's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Jersey (34th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (35th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pines Lake ranks 20,548 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,862 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Jersey alone, it ranks 462 of 700 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Jersey on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Pines Lake
At the 35th national percentile, Pines Lake 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Pines Lake (78.3%), 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 1,166 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Pines Lake. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Pines Lake, see the exposure-zones guide.