WildfireRiskFinder

Shirleysburg, PA

How exposed is Shirleysburg to wildfire?

Elevated
53rdpercentile nationally

Shirleysburg sits at the 53rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 110 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)

Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Shirleysburg at the 53rd national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.

Shirleysburg's building exposure, zone by zone

110Total buildings
7.3%Direct exposure
92.7%Indirect exposure
0%Minimal exposure

Most of Shirleysburg's buildings (92.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.

Where Shirleysburg ranks

Within Pennsylvania, Shirleysburg ranks higher (87th percentile) than it does nationally (53rd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Shirleysburg ranks 14,886 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,638 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 252 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.

Shirleysburg and the insurance market

Shirleysburg's elevated rating (53rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.

What would actually reduce this score

Because 92.7% of Shirleysburg'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 Shirleysburg's figures come from

Every one of the two percentiles behind Shirleysburg's 14,886-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Shirleysburg's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.