FireProtectionScore
Protection questions
Answers about address geometry, score polarity, station inventory, and excluded inputs.
Why is lower stronger?
Shorter routed station access produces lower base values. Remote distance gates produce higher values.
Can two homes in one ZIP differ?
Yes. Street connections, station selection, drive time, road miles, and station type can differ inside one ZIP.
Is the HIFLD inventory a staffing census?
No. It is a station-point inventory. “Name suggests volunteer” means a public name matched a limited keyword heuristic.
Where can I check Protection?
Use the address form on this site for a free PerilScore report covering a US street address.
What does Protection measure?
Modeled road access from a US street address to a selected nearby fire station using miles, minutes, and a station-name type signal. Protection excludes hydrants, water supply and flow, building construction, sprinklers, alarms, apparatus, detailed staffing, mutual aid, live dispatch, current traffic, and incident conditions. It cannot predict response or loss. A station name signal is a heuristic and does not certify staffing.
Why is lower stronger?
Strong covers 1 through 3, Adequate covers 4 through 6, Limited covers 7 through 8, and Remote covers 9 through 10. Lower is stronger.
How do the distance gates work?
Above 5 miles gives base 9 and above 7 miles gives base 10. Exactly 5 miles still uses time; exactly 7 miles is base 9.
Can one ZIP have one number?
No. Different streets can have different road connections, station candidates, miles, and minutes.
Does a city have one number?
No. City hubs show station inventory context and never receive a Protection number. Protection excludes hydrants, water supply and flow, building construction, sprinklers, alarms, apparatus, detailed staffing, mutual aid, live dispatch, current traffic, and incident conditions. It cannot predict response or loss. A station name signal is a heuristic and does not certify staffing.
Are hydrants included?
No. Hydrant location, density, water supply, and water flow remain outside the score.
What is the volunteer adjustment?
A public station name suggesting volunteer service adds one after the base, capped at 10. It does not verify staffing.
What if routing data is missing?
Missing miles or minutes returns no number. The system does not insert an area average or straight line.
Is drive time live response time?
No. It is a modeled routing input and excludes turnout, dispatch, current traffic, and incident conditions. Protection excludes hydrants, water supply and flow, building construction, sprinklers, alarms, apparatus, detailed staffing, mutual aid, live dispatch, current traffic, and incident conditions. It cannot predict response or loss. A station name signal is a heuristic and does not certify staffing.
Is Protection an official class?
No. Protection does not calculate ISO, PPC, or FSRS results, and FireProtectionScore has no affiliation with those organizations or programs.
What does HIFLD provide?
HIFLD provides station records. It does not provide a department census, verified staffing, or response boundaries.
Does CITY mean jurisdiction?
No. CITY is a source match field and does not establish jurisdiction or a response district.
Can Strong coexist with wildfire context?
Yes. Station-route access and wildfire context answer separate questions. Protection excludes hydrants, water supply and flow, building construction, sprinklers, alarms, apparatus, detailed staffing, mutual aid, live dispatch, current traffic, and incident conditions. It cannot predict response or loss. A station name signal is a heuristic and does not certify staffing.
What changed in FPS-v2?
FPS-v2 keeps the FPS-v1 distance and time base, then adds the volunteer name signal, capped at 10.
How should I read a result?
Read the band and number first, remembering that lower is stronger. Then inspect road miles before minutes because a distance gate can control the base. Check the selected station name, whether the volunteer heuristic applied, the methodology version, and any missing-data notice.
Where do I check a property?
Use the theme form or the address guide with a complete US street address.
Can a displayed rounded distance prove which gate applied?
The calculation uses the routed input supplied to it. A rounded display may hide additional precision, so the result and governing rule should be read together. The boundaries remain strictly above 5 miles and strictly above 7 miles.
Can I average several property results into a city number?
No. The methodology defines an address result and does not define geographic aggregation, sampling weights, or a city scale. Local pages therefore publish inventory context without an area Protection number.
Can a source update change a result?
Yes. A reviewed station snapshot can change candidates or public names, while road and routing updates can change miles or minutes. The methodology version identifies formula changes separately.
Does Remote mean an incident will have a poor outcome?
No. Remote means the modeled route crossed the distance rule or reached that final value after the disclosed adjustment. Emergency outcomes depend on many facts outside Protection.
Why does the result show both a number and a band?
The number preserves the specific final value, while the band gives a faster reading category. Both use lower-is-stronger polarity. The underlying miles, minutes, type signal, and version explain how the value was reached.
Does a nearby station pin guarantee Strong Protection?
No. A map pin does not provide the routed road distance or modeled time. Barriers and legal street connections can make the route longer than the straight line.
What should I save from a result?
Save the submitted address, date, version, road miles, estimated minutes, selected station name, type signal, final value, band, and any missing-data message. Those fields preserve an explainable result.
Methodology
Public data. Real science. No black boxes.
Every score is computed from decades of public weather records using physics-based probability modeling. It's the same approach used by insurance and risk management professionals.
- Decades of public weather data
Hurricane tracks, storm intensities, fire perimeters, hail reports, all drawn from public scientific archives. We don't use proprietary data. You can audit every input.
- Physics-based probability modeling
Scores reflect how the actual peril behaves: wind fields, fire spread, ground shaking, and storm tracks. The model keeps the physics visible instead of flattening every place into a broad average.
- Used by professionals
The same PerilScore data layer is used by insurance and risk management professionals. We publish it here so anyone can find authoritative risk numbers for their location.
Frequently asked questions
What does Protection measure?
Does a city have one Protection score?
Does Protection include hydrants or water flow?
Why is lower stronger?
What happens above five road miles?
Can two streets in one ZIP differ?
What does a volunteer signal mean?
Is Protection an official classification?
Check Protection for a specific property
Protection is calculated for a US street address from routed station distance, drive time, and station type. Area inventories provide context but do not receive a Protection number.