Bayou L'Ourse, LA
Bayou L'Ourse wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Bayou L'Ourse at the 20th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 1,013 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Bayou L'Ourse at the 20th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Bayou L'Ourse's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Bayou L'Ourse: 71.1% of its 1,013 buildings, versus 28.9% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Bayou L'Ourse against the rest of the country
Bayou L'Ourse scores 20th nationally and 19th within Louisiana — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bayou L'Ourse ranks 25,305 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,842 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 398 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bayou L'Ourse's low wildfire rating (20th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 71.1% of Bayou L'Ourse in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Bayou L'Ourse's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,013 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bayou L'Ourse. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bayou L'Ourse's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.