West Hartford, CT
West Hartford wildfire risk explained
West Hartford sits at the 29th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 23,661 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 West Hartford at the 29th percentile, close to its 29th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 64.4% of West Hartford's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 18.1% Direct and 17.5% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one. At 23,661 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How West Hartford compares
West Hartford's risk sits at a similar level relative to Connecticut (40th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (29th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Hartford ranks 22,303 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 544 by building count (1 is largest). Within Connecticut alone, it ranks 129 of 214 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Connecticut on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 29th national percentile, West Hartford rates moderate 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
Even with 64.4% of West Hartford 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 West Hartford's figures come from
West Hartford's 29th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what West Hartford's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.