Butte Falls, OR
Butte Falls wildfire risk explained
Butte Falls sits at the 99th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 265 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Butte Falls's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 99th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Butte Falls's buildings (70.2%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Butte Falls against the rest of the country
Butte Falls's risk sits at a similar level relative to Oregon (97th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (99th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Butte Falls ranks 356 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,676 by building count (1 is largest). Within Oregon alone, it ranks 14 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Oregon on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Butte Falls's 99th-percentile score lands in Oregon, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. Oregon's own hazard map feeds directly into that disclosure requirement. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Butte Falls (70.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Butte Falls's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 265 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Butte Falls. The exposure-zones guide covers what Butte Falls's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.