Potomac Park, MD
How exposed is Potomac Park to wildfire?
Potomac Park's 453 buildings earn a 45th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (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 Park at the 44th percentile, close to its 45th-percentile risk score.
Where Potomac Park's buildings actually sit
Most of Potomac Park's buildings (77.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where Potomac Park ranks
Potomac Park's 64th-percentile standing inside Maryland outpaces its 45th 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 Park ranks 17,363 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,217 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 190 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Potomac Park's elevated rating (45th 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
Potomac Park's 77.7% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 453 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Potomac Park. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Potomac Park, see the exposure-zones guide.