Shelter Cove, CA
Shelter Cove, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Shelter Cove sits at the 84th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 759 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Shelter Cove's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 85th percentile nationally.
Shelter Cove's building exposure, zone by zone
65.9% of Shelter Cove's 759 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 500 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 34% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.1% are Minimal.
Where Shelter Cove ranks
Shelter Cove ranks lower within California (48th percentile statewide) than its 84th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Shelter Cove ranks 4,941 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,028 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 814 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Shelter Cove
Because Shelter Cove 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 65.9% of Shelter Cove in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Shelter Cove's 84th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Shelter Cove, see the exposure-zones guide.