Witmer, PA
Witmer wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Witmer at the 3rd national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 324 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Witmer's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 3rd percentile nationally.
Where Witmer's buildings actually sit
73.2% of Witmer's 324 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 26.9% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Witmer against the rest of the country
Witmer's risk sits at a similar level relative to Pennsylvania (1st percentile statewide) as it does nationally (3rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Witmer ranks 30,622 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,990 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 1,977 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Witmer and the insurance market
At the 3rd national percentile, Witmer rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Witmer
Even with 73.2% of Witmer 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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Witmer's 30,622-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Witmer, see the exposure-zones guide.