West Elmira, NY
How exposed is West Elmira to wildfire?
USFS scores West Elmira at the 30th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 2,588 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks West Elmira at the 29th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where West Elmira's buildings actually sit
63.9% of West Elmira's 2,588 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 36.1% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How West Elmira compares
Within New York, West Elmira ranks higher (63rd percentile) than it does nationally (30th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Elmira ranks 22,130 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,125 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 475 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
West Elmira and the insurance market
West Elmira's moderate wildfire rating (30th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
West Elmira's 63.9% 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 West Elmira's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind West Elmira's 22,130-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what West Elmira's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.