Wildfire risk in Yuba County: where it is highest, and why
Wildfire risk varies a lot across Yuba County. In the places we scored, the overall wildfire risk runs from 23.4 near Marysville up to 81.1 in Challenge, with a county midpoint of 64.9.
Yuba County — the largest fires on record, at their perimeter centres, with the county’s main communities. Select a marker for its detail.
At a glance
Half of Yuba County scores High or worse
We scored 159 points across Yuba County on the same 0–100 scale a Satelife address report uses, and they do not land in one place. 24% of them come out Very High, while 1% are Low. Which end your own parcel sits at is not something a county map can tell you.
24%
43%
32%
Very High24% · 38 of 159 pointsHigh43% · 69 of 159 pointsModerate32% · 51 of 159 pointsLow1% · 1 of 159 points
Safest end we measured23.4near Marysville · Low
Middle of the county64.9High — half of Yuba County is above this
Most exposed end we measured81.1near Challenge · Very High
And the federal models agree it is a fire county
Relatively ModerateFEMA National Risk Index — wildfire risk rating · index score 96.8 / 100
$7.1M / yrFEMA NRI — expected annual loss from wildfire · rated Relatively Moderate
1.16%USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities — mean annual burn probability · 90th-percentile cell 3.11%
9.39 ftUSFS WRC — mean conditional flame length · 94% of the county carries burnable fuel
FEMA NRI also rates Yuba County: all-hazards risk Relatively Low · social vulnerability Relatively Low · community resilience Relatively Low · annualised wildfire frequency 0.0053.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index 1.20.0 (Dec 2025), county record · USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0, mean of the grid cells inside the county. Both describe the county as a whole, never an address in it.
What does your Yuba County address score?
A county range shows the spread. Your parcel sits somewhere inside it — the report says where, and what to do about it.
Free to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan
Local context
What the data says about Yuba County
Most scored locations fall in the High tier: 69 points are High, ahead of Moderate at 51 and Very High at 38. So, countywide, higher-risk tiers are common, but not every area scores the same.
FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Yuba County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate, and its wildfire expected annual loss as Relatively Moderate. FEMA also rates the county’s all-hazards risk, social vulnerability, and community resilience as Relatively Low.
Fire record
Where the fires actually were
The largest listed fire affecting this county is the Cascade fire in 2017 at 16,141 acres. It is also the most recent large fire.
Other major fires in this record include the 49'Er fire at 36,343 acres and the Mountain House fire at 18,522 acres; both are listed as partly in Yuba County.
Since 1984, 56,211 acres have burned within county fire perimeters, and that equals 13.7% of the county. The county record also shows 130 fire perimeters since 1984.
130mapped fire perimeters centred in the county since 1984
56,211acres inside those perimeters since 1984
13.7%of the county's area, as a share of 1,658 km²
Cascade 2017most recent large fire on record
Before 20002000s2010s2020s
Fire perimeters coloured by decade. Select a perimeter for its name, year and size.
Named fires on record
Cascade Fire201716,141 acres
Pendola Fire199912,324 acres
Yuba Fire20093,829 acres
Williams Fire19975,838 acres
Mountain House Fire195918,522 acres in totalcrossed into the county
49'Er Fire198836,343 acres in totalcrossed into the county
Camp Beale #2 Fire19504,886 acres
Carmichael #2 Fire19604,366 acres
Perimeter sources: NIFC Interagency Fire Perimeter History · largest on record: Cascade 2017.
Perimeters are simplified for display; acreage is the figure the source records.
Communities
Where in the county you are matters most
Among the largest communities listed, Linda (population 21,654) scores 43.4 and Olivehurst (13,656) scores 42.5. Marysville (12,327) is lower at 35.4.
Higher wildfire risk appears in several smaller foothill communities: Challenge is 78.8 and Brownsville is 75.0. Camptonville is also high at 72.5.
This means people buying or selling in Yuba County can see very different wildfire-risk conditions from one community to another, even within the same county.
Challengevillage
78.8 Very High
Brownsvillevillage
75 Very High
Camptonvillevillage
72.5 High
Loma Ricavillage
66.9 High
Lindatown · 21,654 people
43.4 Moderate
Olivehursttown · 13,656 people
42.5 Moderate
Wheatlandvillage · 3,580 people
41.8 Moderate
Marysvilletown · 12,327 people
35.4 Moderate
Plumas Lakevillage · 5,853 people
35 Moderate
The score is the median of the sampled points nearest that community — a community-scale
indicator, not a score for any individual property in it. Population comes from the
community's own record where the source carries one.
Terrain & fuels
Terrain, vegetation and fuels
Terrain contributes to these differences. The terrain score ranges from 20.0 in Plumas Lake to 65.0 near Loma Rica, with a midpoint of 40.0.
Vegetation and fuels are also uneven. This score runs from 15.8 near Linda up to 78.2 in Loma Rica, and the county midpoint is 58.0.
Taken together, steeper ground and heavier fuels are associated with higher wildfire risk in several foothill locations, while flatter and lighter-fuel areas tend to score lower.
40median terrain score (max 65 near Loma Rica)
58median vegetation & fuels score (max 78.2 near Loma Rica)
Fire weather
Fire weather across Yuba County
Fire weather was measured across Yuba County, and it is high but fairly tight in range. Scores run from 55.5 in Camptonville to 64.7 in Loma Rica, with a midpoint of 64.2.
Separate from fire weather, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities model reports a mean annual burn probability of 1.16%. Its 90th-percentile cell is 3.11%, and 94.1% of the county is in places that can burn.
55.5lowest fire-weather score — near Camptonville
64.7highest fire-weather score — near Loma Rica
What drives it
Which part of the risk moves, and which doesn't
Risk changes sharply between communities. Challenge is one of the highest-scoring named places at 78.8, while Marysville is much lower at 35.4.
In the higher-scoring foothill communities, Brownsville is at 75.0 and Camptonville is at 72.5. Loma Rica also scores elevated at 66.9.
In the valley-side towns and villages, Plumas Lake is at 35.0 and Olivehurst is at 42.5. Linda is close by at 43.4, showing that nearby communities can still differ.
Each bar is what one part of the score covers across Yuba County, on the same 0–100 scale.
A long bar is a part of the risk that depends on where you are; a short one is the same
almost everywhere.
Terrain
20–65highest near Loma Rica
Vegetation & fuels
15.8–78.2highest near Loma Rica
Hazard zone
10–93.7highest near Camptonville
Fire history
5–95highest near Wheatland
Fire weather
55.5–64.7highest near Loma Rica
Overall score
23.4–81.1highest near Challenge
The tick on each bar is the middle value. Tier boundaries — Moderate at 25, High at 50,
Very High at 75 — are the faint lines behind them.
Show every number behind these bars
Layer
Min
Median
Max
Lowest place
Highest place
Points
Terrain
20
40
65
Plumas Lake
near Loma Rica
159
Vegetation & fuels
15.8
58
78.2
near Linda
Loma Rica
159
Hazard zone
10
70
93.7
Plumas Lake
Camptonville
159
Fire history
5
90
95
Marysville
Wheatland
159
Fire weather
55.5
64.2
64.7
Camptonville
Loma Rica
159
Composite
23.4
64.9
81.1
near Marysville
Challenge
159
Independently of Satelife's layers, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities grid puts the county's mean annual burn probability at 1.16% (90th percentile cell: 3.11%), with a mean conditional flame length of 9.39 ft. 94% of the 15,425 grid cells inside the county carry burnable fuel at all.
Source: USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0 (ImageServer, county extent).
CAL FIRE has no mapped Fire Hazard Severity Zone at 24 of the 159 sampled points — the zones cover Local Responsibility Areas. At 24 of them the USFS grid above supplied the hazard reading instead.
159 sample points on a ~2.3 km grid, plus one at the centre of each community, weighted with the Satelife county profile v1 · median layer coverage 100%. Scores are 0–100 and comparable within the county, not across states.
For a property
What a county range means for one address
At the property level, hazard-zone conditions vary widely by location. In the places scored, this factor is 10.0 in Plumas Lake and reaches 93.7 in Camptonville, with a midpoint of 70.0.
Local fire-history exposure also spans a wide range. It is 5.0 in Marysville and 95.0 in Wheatland, with a midpoint of 90.0.
For countywide context, FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Yuba County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate. That is a county-level FEMA rating, while the map and tables show how wildfire risk differs from place to place inside the county.
Across 159 sampled points in Yuba County, the score runs from
23.4 to 81.1 — two neighbouring parcels can sit in different tiers.
A county number is the middle of that spread; it says nothing about which end yours is at.
Find out where your Yuba County parcel sits
Slope, the fuel touching the structure, the road out, the fire history within a mile — measured at your address, not averaged across the county.
Free to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan
Coverage
ZIP codes we cover in Yuba County
Every one of the 27 ZIP areas that touch Yuba County — we run address-level
reports in all of them. They are grouped by the median score of the points we sampled inside
each, which is a neighbourhood-scale indicator and not a score for any
property: two homes in the same ZIP routinely land in different tiers.
Frequently asked questions about Yuba County wildfire risk
Is wildfire risk basically the same across Yuba County?
No. In the places scored, overall wildfire risk goes from 23.4 near Marysville to 81.1 in Challenge, so location inside the county matters a lot.
What is the largest and most recent large fire listed for Yuba County?
Both are the Cascade fire in 2017, at 16,141 acres.
How much of the county has burned since 1984?
13.7% of Yuba County has burned since 1984, totaling 56,211 acres within recorded fire perimeters.
Is fire weather the same thing as burn probability?
No. Fire weather is one wildfire-risk factor scored in the county. Burn probability here comes from the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities model, which reports 1.16% mean annual burn probability and 3.11% at the 90th-percentile cell.
What does FEMA say about countywide wildfire risk?
FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Yuba County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate, and its wildfire expected annual loss as Relatively Moderate.
This page is generated from a Yuba County data pack assembled on 2026-08-19 (pack v1.0). Scores are sampled across the
county, not measured at any individual address, and are informational decision support — not a
substitute for official evacuation orders, a fire-agency hazard determination, or an insurer's
underwriting judgement.
Data versions: fema_nri 1.20.0 (Dec 2025) · landfire per adapter · nifc_history All Years View · wfigs current · wrc v2.0 (2024) · zcta Census 2020.
What does your parcel look like, layer by layer?
A county range shows the spread. An address-level Satelife report shows where in that spread your property actually sits — PDF, per-layer score, and a prioritized mitigation plan.
