South Windham, ME
How exposed is South Windham to wildfire?
USFS scores South Windham at the 18th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 374 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts South Windham at the 18th percentile, close to its 18th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 73.8% of South Windham's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 26.2% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 276 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
South Windham against the rest of the country
Compare South Windham's two percentiles: 82nd within Maine, only 18th nationally — a gap of 64 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, South Windham ranks 25,967 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,779 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maine alone, it ranks 29 of 155 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maine on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in South Windham
South Windham's low wildfire rating (18th 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in South Windham (73.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where South Windham's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind South Windham's 25,967-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what South Windham's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.