Atqasuk, AK
How exposed is Atqasuk to wildfire?
USFS scores Atqasuk at the 29th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 146 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Atqasuk at the 30th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Atqasuk's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 63% of Atqasuk's 146 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 37% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Atqasuk ranks
Atqasuk scores 29th nationally and 26th within Alaska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Atqasuk ranks 22,334 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,006 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 240 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Atqasuk
Atqasuk's moderate wildfire rating (29th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Atqasuk's 63% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Atqasuk's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Atqasuk's 22,334-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Atqasuk's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.