Callender, IA
Callender wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Callender lands at the 2nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 252 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Callender's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 2nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Callender rates 77.8% Minimal exposure against just 22.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 252 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Callender against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Callender's 2nd national percentile and its 4th percentile inside Iowa, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Callender ranks 30,762 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,071 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 981 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
Callender's low wildfire rating (2nd percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 77.8% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Callender gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 252 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Callender. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Callender, see the exposure-zones guide.