Salmon Creek, CA
How exposed is Salmon Creek to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Salmon Creek lands at the 86th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 132 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Salmon Creek at the 88th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Salmon Creek (67.4% of 132 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 32.6% sit in the Direct zone.
Salmon Creek against the rest of the country
Salmon Creek ranks lower within California (52nd percentile statewide) than its 86th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Salmon Creek ranks 4,531 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,609 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 764 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Salmon Creek and the insurance market
Because Salmon Creek is in California, a wildfire-hazard disclosure is legally required before a sale closes here — unusual nationally, since only these two states mandate it. The state's FAIR Plan alone carried 668,609 policies by the end of 2025. Full detail in the disclosure-law guide.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 67.4% of Salmon Creek'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.
Where Salmon Creek's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 132 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Salmon Creek. The exposure-zones guide covers what Salmon Creek's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.