Burlington, IA
Burlington, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Burlington at the 55th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 13,163 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Burlington's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 58th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Burlington's buildings (75% of 13,163) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 13,163 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Burlington compares
Within Iowa, Burlington ranks higher (76th percentile) than it does nationally (55th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Burlington ranks 14,113 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,160 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 250 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Burlington
At the 55th national percentile, Burlington 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 Burlington
Even with 75% of Burlington 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 Burlington's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 13,163 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Burlington. The exposure-zones guide covers what Burlington's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.