Preston, MD
How exposed is Preston to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Preston at the 46th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 428 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Preston at the 47th percentile, close to its 46th-percentile risk score.
Preston's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Preston (60.3% of 428 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 32.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Preston ranks
Within Maryland, Preston ranks higher (66th percentile) than it does nationally (46th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Preston ranks 16,890 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,692 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 181 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Preston
Preston's elevated wildfire rating (46th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Preston
Because 60.3% of Preston'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
Preston's 46th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Preston, see the exposure-zones guide.