Bertram, IA
Bertram, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Bertram's 191 buildings earn a 57th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Bertram at the 59th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Bertram's buildings actually sit
Of Bertram's 191 counted buildings, 88.5% carry Direct exposure and only 11.5% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Bertram compares
Within Iowa, Bertram ranks higher (79th percentile) than it does nationally (57th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bertram ranks 13,458 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,196 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 211 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bertram's elevated rating (57th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 88.5% of Bertram 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 Bertram's figures come from
Bertram's 57th-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 Bertram's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.