Townsend, DE
Townsend wildfire risk explained
Townsend sits at the 41st 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 915 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Townsend at the 41st percentile, close to its 41st-percentile risk score.
Townsend's building exposure, zone by zone
64.3% of Townsend's 915 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 35.7% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Townsend compares
There's little gap between Townsend's 41st national percentile and its 53rd percentile inside Delaware, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Townsend ranks 18,740 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,590 by building count (1 is largest). Within Delaware alone, it ranks 37 of 79 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Delaware on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Townsend's elevated rating (41st percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Townsend's 64.3% 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 915 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Townsend. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Townsend, see the exposure-zones guide.