Walpole, NH
Walpole wildfire risk explained
Walpole sits at the 15th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 351 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 Walpole at the 15th percentile, close to its 15th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
351 buildings are counted in Walpole, and 51.3% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 48.7% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Walpole ranks
Walpole scores 15th nationally and 17th within New Hampshire — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Walpole ranks 26,729 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,282 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Hampshire alone, it ranks 83 of 100 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Hampshire on its state page.
Walpole and the insurance market
At the 15th national percentile, Walpole rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Walpole
Walpole's 51.3% 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Walpole's 26,729-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Walpole, see the exposure-zones guide.