Alba, MI
Alba wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Alba at the 37th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 251 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Alba at the 38th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Alba's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Alba's 251 counted buildings, 63% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Alba against the rest of the country
Within Michigan, Alba ranks higher (88th percentile) than it does nationally (37th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Alba ranks 19,819 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,106 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 86 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Alba
Alba's moderate rating (37th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Alba
Because Direct exposure dominates in Alba (63%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Alba's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 251 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Alba. The exposure-zones guide covers what Alba's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.