Wildfire risk to homes by community in Northern Nevada

The table below shows each community's Forest Service percentile rank and the share of its buildings in the direct and indirect wildfire exposure zones. A rank of 98% means the community's risk to homes is higher than 98% of communities in the United States.

What the numbers mean

Risk to homes combines how likely wildfire is in a place with how intense it would be where homes stand. The Forest Service ranks every community in the country and in each state, which is why each town has two percentiles.

Direct exposure means a building is next to wildland vegetation that can carry fire to it. Indirect exposure means it can be reached by embers or by fire spreading from nearby buildings. Minimal exposure covers the rest.

What stands out here

• Carson City: higher than 98.5% of US communities, with about 10% of buildings directly exposed and 66% indirectly exposed
• Reno: higher than 97.7% of US communities
• Glenbrook and Washoe Valley: almost every building is in the direct exposure zone
• Fallon: about the 31st percentile nationally, the lowest in our service area

How to use this for your own house

A community rank says nothing about one address. It tells you whether your neighbors, your fire district and your insurer are likely to take defensible space seriously. For your own lot, start with the three zones in the Living With Fire guide and ask your fire district about a free evaluation where it offers one.

Battle Born Tree Service does the physical work: limbing up, removing dead trees, brush mowing and masticating. See defensible space and fire mitigation.

Limits of the data

The ranks describe Census places as mapped by the Forest Service. ZIP-based neighborhoods such as South Reno or Galena have no record of their own, so use Reno's. The data is modeled, updated from time to time, and not a prediction for any year.