Alvord, IA
Alvord wildfire risk explained
Alvord's 175 buildings earn a 20th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Alvord at the 16th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Alvord's buildings (66.3% of 175) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Where Alvord ranks
Alvord scores 20th nationally and 32nd within Iowa — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Alvord ranks 25,336 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,820 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 693 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Alvord and the insurance market
At the 20th national percentile, Alvord rates low 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 Alvord
Alvord's 66.3% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Alvord's figures come from
Alvord's 20th-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 Alvord's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.