Tehama, CA
How exposed is Tehama to wildfire?
Tehama sits at the 84th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 250 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Tehama at the 86th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Tehama's buildings actually sit
250 buildings are counted in Tehama, and 81.6% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 18.4% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Tehama ranks
Tehama ranks lower within California (48th percentile statewide) than its 84th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Tehama ranks 5,009 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,129 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 825 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Tehama sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 84th-percentile score like Tehama's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 81.6% of Tehama'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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 250 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Tehama. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Tehama, see the exposure-zones guide.