St. James, NY
St. James wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts St. James at the 33rd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 5,102 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. James's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 34th percentile nationally.
Where St. James's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in St. James (48.9% of 5,102 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 37.5% sit in the Direct zone. At 5,102 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How St. James compares
Within New York, St. James ranks higher (71st percentile) than it does nationally (33rd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. James ranks 21,211 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,378 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 381 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in St. James
At the 33rd national percentile, St. James rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
St. James's 48.9% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 5,102 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for St. James. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond St. James, see the exposure-zones guide.