Rapids, NY
Rapids wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Rapids at the 6th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 899 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Rapids's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 6th percentile nationally.
Where Rapids's buildings actually sit
69.5% of Rapids's 899 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 625 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 30.5% are Minimal.
Where Rapids ranks
There's little gap between Rapids's 6th national percentile and its 10th percentile inside New York, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rapids ranks 29,605 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,730 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,164 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Rapids and the insurance market
Rapids's low rating (6th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Rapids
Rapids's 69.5% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 899 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Rapids. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Rapids, see the exposure-zones guide.