Winchester, IL
Winchester wildfire risk explained
Winchester sits at the 8th 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 1,007 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Winchester at the 8th national percentile — 0 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
USFS puts 94.4% of Winchester's 1,007 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 4.6% Direct and 1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Winchester against the rest of the country
Winchester's 38th-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 8th 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, Winchester ranks 29,022 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,884 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 907 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Winchester's low wildfire rating (8th 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Winchester (94.4% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Winchester's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,007 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Winchester. The exposure-zones guide covers what Winchester's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.