Coleta, IL
Coleta wildfire risk explained
Coleta's 127 buildings earn a 2nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Coleta at the 2nd national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
80.3% of Coleta's 127 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 19.7% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Coleta compares
There's little gap between Coleta's 2nd national percentile and its 17th percentile inside Illinois, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Coleta ranks 30,781 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,846 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 1,205 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Coleta and the insurance market
Coleta's low rating (2nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 80.3% of Coleta 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 Coleta's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 127 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Coleta. The exposure-zones guide covers what Coleta's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.