Central, LA
How exposed is Central to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Central lands at the 27th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 16,387 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Central at the 28th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Central's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 61.2% of Central's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 38.8% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 10,026 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 16,387 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Central compares
Central's risk sits at a similar level relative to Louisiana (27th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (27th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Central ranks 23,067 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 886 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 356 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Central
At the 27th national percentile, Central rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Central's 61.2% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Central's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 16,387 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Central. The exposure-zones guide covers what Central's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.