Bassett, IA
How exposed is Bassett to wildfire?
Bassett sits at the 42nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 67 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bassett's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 42nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 65.7% of Bassett's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 34.3% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Bassett ranks
Compare Bassett's two percentiles: 57th within Iowa, only 42nd nationally — a gap of 16 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bassett ranks 18,369 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,380 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 435 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Bassett and the insurance market
Bassett's elevated rating (42nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Bassett's 65.7% 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 Bassett's figures come from
Bassett's 42nd-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 Bassett's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.