Popponesset Island, MA
How exposed is Popponesset Island to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Popponesset Island lands at the 30th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 84 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Popponesset Island's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 20th percentile nationally.
Popponesset Island's building exposure, zone by zone
90.5% of Popponesset Island's 84 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 9.5% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Popponesset Island compares
Compare Popponesset Island's two percentiles: 75th within Massachusetts, only 30th nationally — a gap of 46 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Popponesset Island ranks 22,155 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,730 by building count (1 is largest). Within Massachusetts alone, it ranks 62 of 248 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Massachusetts on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Popponesset Island
At the 30th national percentile, Popponesset Island rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Popponesset Island
Even with 90.5% of Popponesset Island 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.
More on how this number was built
Popponesset Island's 30th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Popponesset Island, see the exposure-zones guide.