Potomac, IL
How exposed is Potomac to wildfire?
Potomac's 479 buildings earn a 13th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Potomac at the 13th percentile, close to its 13th-percentile risk score.
Potomac's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Potomac (86.2% of 479 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 13.8% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Potomac ranks
Potomac's 49th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 13th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Potomac ranks 27,348 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,721 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 734 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Potomac
At the 13th national percentile, Potomac rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 86.2% of Potomac's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 479 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Potomac. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Potomac, see the exposure-zones guide.