Buras, LA
Buras, LA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Buras at the 46th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 731 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Buras at the 31st percentile, lower than its 46th-percentile risk score, because so much is actually built here.
Buras's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 23.8% of Buras's 731 buildings carry Direct exposure and 19.8% carry Indirect; the remaining 56.4% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Buras against the rest of the country
Buras scores 46th nationally and 49th 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, Buras ranks 16,984 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,320 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 249 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Buras
At the 46th national percentile, Buras rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Buras
Even with 56.4% of Buras outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Buras's figures come from
Buras's 46th-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 Buras's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.