Warm Springs, CA
Warm Springs wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Warm Springs lands at the 90th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 771 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Warm Springs at the 92nd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Warm Springs's buildings actually sit
50.2% of Warm Springs's 771 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 49.8% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Warm Springs against the rest of the country
Warm Springs ranks lower within California (62nd percentile statewide) than its 90th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Warm Springs ranks 3,019 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,907 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 593 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
Warm Springs 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 90th-percentile score like Warm Springs's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Warm Springs's 50.2% 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.
Where Warm Springs's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 771 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Warm Springs. The exposure-zones guide covers what Warm Springs's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.