Castana, IA
Castana, IA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Castana lands at the 84th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 158 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Castana at the 85th percentile, close to its 84th-percentile risk score.
Where Castana's buildings actually sit
57% of Castana's 158 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 43% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Castana compares
Compare Castana's two percentiles: 100th within Iowa, only 84th nationally — a gap of 15 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Castana ranks 4,979 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,523 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 3 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Castana and the insurance market
At the 84th percentile nationally, Castana carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Castana's 57% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Castana's 84th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Castana, see the exposure-zones guide.