Carlisle, IA
Carlisle wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Carlisle at the 56th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 2,061 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 Carlisle at the 57th percentile, close to its 56th-percentile risk score.
Where Carlisle's buildings actually sit
Most of Carlisle's buildings (79% of 2,061) 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.
How Carlisle compares
Within Iowa, Carlisle ranks higher (76th percentile) than it does nationally (56th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Carlisle ranks 13,923 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,310 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 240 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Carlisle
Carlisle's elevated wildfire rating (56th 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.
Hardening a home in Carlisle
Even with 79% of Carlisle 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 Carlisle's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,061 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Carlisle. The exposure-zones guide covers what Carlisle's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.