Altoona, WI
Altoona, WI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Altoona sits at the 26th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 3,257 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Altoona at the 26th percentile, close to its 26th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Altoona's buildings (60.2%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Altoona against the rest of the country
Altoona's 52nd-percentile standing inside Wisconsin outpaces its 26th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Altoona ranks 23,309 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,094 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 386 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Altoona
At the 26th national percentile, Altoona rates moderate 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 Altoona
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Altoona (60.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Altoona's figures come from
Altoona's 26th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Altoona's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.