Sylvania, PA
Sylvania wildfire risk explained
Sylvania sits at the 45th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 156 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Sylvania's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 46th percentile nationally.
Sylvania's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Sylvania: 97.4% of its 156 buildings, versus 2.6% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Sylvania compares
Compare Sylvania's two percentiles: 72nd within Pennsylvania, only 45th nationally — a gap of 27 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sylvania ranks 17,410 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,635 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 559 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sylvania
Sylvania's elevated wildfire rating (45th 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 Sylvania (97.4%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Sylvania's figures come from
Sylvania's 45th-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 Sylvania's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.