Chatham, LA
Chatham wildfire risk explained
Chatham's 360 buildings earn a 56th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Chatham at the 56th percentile, close to its 56th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 52.8% of Chatham's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 47.2% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 190 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Chatham compares
Chatham's risk sits at a similar level relative to Louisiana (68th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (56th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Chatham ranks 13,865 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,057 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 157 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Chatham'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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 52.8% of Chatham in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Chatham's 56th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Chatham, see the exposure-zones guide.