Sugar Notch, PA
How exposed is Sugar Notch to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Sugar Notch at the 55th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 476 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Sugar Notch's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 53rd percentile nationally.
Where Sugar Notch's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 85.1% of Sugar Notch's 476 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 14.9% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Sugar Notch ranks
Sugar Notch's 90th-percentile standing inside Pennsylvania outpaces its 55th 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, Sugar Notch ranks 14,287 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,792 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 192 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Sugar Notch and the insurance market
At the 55th national percentile, Sugar Notch rates elevated 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
Because 85.1% of Sugar Notch'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 Sugar Notch's figures come from
Sugar Notch's 55th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sugar Notch's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.