Talmage, CA
How exposed is Talmage to wildfire?
Talmage's 502 buildings earn a 99th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Talmage at the 98th percentile, close to its 99th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
502 buildings are counted in Talmage, and 73.7% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 26.3% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Talmage ranks
Talmage scores 99th nationally and 88th within California — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Talmage ranks 407 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,305 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 197 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Talmage
Talmage's 99th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Hardening a home in Talmage
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Talmage (73.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Talmage's figures come from
Talmage's 99th-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 Talmage's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.