Blanchard, LA
Blanchard wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Blanchard at the 62nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 1,783 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Blanchard's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 63rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
1,783 buildings are counted in Blanchard, and 67.4% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 32% in Direct exposure or the 0.6% rated Minimal.
How Blanchard compares
Compare Blanchard's two percentiles: 77th within Louisiana, only 62nd nationally — a gap of 16 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Blanchard ranks 12,132 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,113 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 111 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
At the 62nd percentile nationally, Blanchard carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Blanchard
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Blanchard (67.4% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Blanchard's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Blanchard's 12,132-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Blanchard's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.