Vernon, IL
How exposed is Vernon to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Vernon at the 15th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 178 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Vernon at the 16th percentile, close to its 15th-percentile risk score.
Vernon's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Vernon's buildings (69.7% of 178) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
How Vernon compares
Within Illinois, Vernon ranks higher (54th percentile) than it does nationally (15th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Vernon ranks 26,654 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,709 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 669 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Vernon
Vernon's low rating (15th 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
Even with 69.7% of Vernon outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Vernon's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 178 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Vernon. The exposure-zones guide covers what Vernon's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.