Sparrow Bush, NY
How exposed is Sparrow Bush to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sparrow Bush lands at the 62nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 553 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Sparrow Bush at the 60th percentile, close to its 62nd-percentile risk score.
Where Sparrow Bush's buildings actually sit
553 buildings are counted in Sparrow Bush, and 70.2% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where Sparrow Bush ranks
Within New York, Sparrow Bush ranks higher (99th percentile) than it does nationally (62nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sparrow Bush ranks 12,106 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,529 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 15 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Sparrow Bush's 62nd-percentile, 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 Sparrow Bush (70.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Sparrow Bush's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 553 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sparrow Bush. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sparrow Bush's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.