St. James, MD
St. James wildfire risk explained
St. James sits at the 30th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,662 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks St. James at the 31st national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
St. James's building exposure, zone by zone
52.6% of St. James's 1,662 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 47.4% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
St. James against the rest of the country
Compare St. James's two percentiles: 47th within Maryland, only 30th nationally — a gap of 17 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. James ranks 22,025 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,555 by building count (1 is largest). Within Maryland alone, it ranks 281 of 527 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Maryland on its state page.
St. James and the insurance market
St. James's moderate rating (30th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in St. James
Because 52.6% of St. James'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 St. James's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,662 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for St. James. The exposure-zones guide covers what St. James's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.