South Berwick, ME
How exposed is South Berwick to wildfire?
South Berwick's 1,424 buildings earn a 26th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks South Berwick at the 24th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where South Berwick's buildings actually sit
61.6% of South Berwick's 1,424 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 38.4% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How South Berwick compares
South Berwick's 93rd-percentile standing inside Maine outpaces its 26th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, South Berwick ranks 23,229 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,509 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 12 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
South Berwick and the insurance market
South Berwick's moderate wildfire rating (26th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
South Berwick's 61.6% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where South Berwick's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,424 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for South Berwick. The exposure-zones guide covers what South Berwick's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.