Sandy Creek, NC
Sandy Creek wildfire risk explained
Sandy Creek's 173 buildings earn a 83rd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band 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 Sandy Creek at the 83rd percentile, close to its 83rd-percentile risk score.
Where Sandy Creek's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 100% of Sandy Creek's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 173 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Sandy Creek compares
Sandy Creek scores 83rd nationally and 91st within North Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sandy Creek ranks 5,331 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,906 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 72 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Sandy Creek and the insurance market
Sandy Creek's 83rd-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Sandy Creek (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Sandy Creek's figures come from
Sandy Creek's 83rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sandy Creek's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.