West Decatur, PA
West Decatur, PA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
West Decatur's 357 buildings earn a 55th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks West Decatur at the 54th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
82.9% of West Decatur's 357 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 296 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 17.1% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where West Decatur ranks
West Decatur's 91st-percentile standing inside Pennsylvania outpaces its 55th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Decatur ranks 14,134 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,144 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 177 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
West Decatur and the insurance market
At the 55th national percentile, West Decatur rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 82.9% of West Decatur in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind West Decatur's 14,134-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond West Decatur, see the exposure-zones guide.